


Episode 4: Dating Games

by WilliamShipley



Series: Kyle XY Season 4 [4]
Category: Kyle XY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-06
Updated: 2014-03-06
Packaged: 2018-01-14 17:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 23,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1275667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WilliamShipley/pseuds/WilliamShipley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the school year starts up, various dating games take up the time of the Tragers -- including  Jessi who experiments with a new romantic interest.  In the meantime Kyle and Jessi dig deeper into Latnok to the dismay of some of the members.  Someone we thought was gone reappears, causing Jessi consternation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beechwood High

Kyle went to his locker between classes to put away the books he was carrying. He stood for a moment looking up and down the hall full of students doing the same thing.

_The halls of Beachwood High were filled with students but not the one I most wanted to see. I had argued that it was important for me to continue my normal life, but how could I do that with Amanda in New York? Every time I saw a girl with blonde hair come around the corner, I would have a memory of Amanda and her wonderful smile. But it was always someone else._

Kyle closed his locker and headed toward his next class.

A few yards further down the hall, Jessi was also putting away her books. She closed her locker and saw Raymond Osgood standing in front of her.

"I told you that we would bump into each other," Raymond said, smiling.

"I don't think there was any 'bumping'," Jessi said with a quizzical expression. "I was just putting some books into my locker."

"Then, you've found me out," Raymond admitted, "I deliberately came in search of you."

"Why'd you do that?" Jessi asked.

"You seem like an interesting girl. I want to get to know you better. Would you like to be my date to the dance Friday night?" Raymond asked.

"Lori told me I should say yes," Jessi said.

"Lori's obviously a smart girl," Raymond smiled. "Does this mean you will?"

"Yes I will. Where is this dance?" Jessi asked.

"It's here at the school," Raymond told her. "There's a dance after every home game."

"What kind of game?" Jessi asked.

"Football," Raymond frowned. "You do know that I'm the quarterback on the team, don't you?" He frowned slightly.

"Yes, Lori told me that you were," Jessi nodded. "I don't know much about football. I know it's a popular sport played with a ball that isn't round, but I've never seen a game played."

Raymond looked astonished, "You've never seen a football game?"

"I should probably go to the game and watch you play before the dance," Jessi said. She looked concerned, "Isn't football a physically demanding game? Will you be able to dance after playing?"

"I usually can unless the other team's defense gets to me too many times," Raymond said with a smile.

"If they are trying to 'get to you', wouldn't that make them the offence?" Jessi asked.

Raymond sighed, "I don't think I can explain football to you standing in the hall here, especially not before the next class. I have an idea. We have practice after school tonight, if you have time, you could come out to the football field and watch. I'm going to be busy most of the practice, but we might be able to talk when I have a break. It'll be easier to explain if you've seen us play."

"That sounds like a good idea," Jessi agreed. "I was going to go to UDub after school and help some of the students with their science projects but I can skip today and watch your practice, instead."

Raymond stared at her in confusion. "Ok," he said. "I'll see you out there." He turned and walked away. After he got about twenty feet away, he turned back and looked at her, shaking his head in puzzlement, then continued. As Jessi looked around she noticed that many of the nearby students were looking at her, most of them female.

She started toward her next class. On her way there she encountered Kyle. She told him, "I won't be able to go to Latnok after school today. I'm going to watch the football team practice."

"Why are you going to watch the football team practice," Kyle looked puzzled. "Are you interested in football?"

"Raymond Osgood asked me to be his date to the dance after the game on Friday," Jessi said. "He thinks that if I go to the practice and learn something about football, I'll enjoy the game more."

"Who's Raymond Osgood?" Kyle asked, frowning.

"He's the quarterback on the football team," Jessi said.

"He asked you be his date for a dance?" Kyle asked, surprised. "And you agreed?"

"Yes, he said I seemed like an interesting girl," Jessi said. "Lori and Hillary told me that if he asked me I should say yes, so I did." She looked wistfully at Kyle, "No one has ever asked me on a date before." They reached her classroom and she went in the door leaving Kyle behind.

_I stood in the hallway with a feeling that I had to take action to prevent something wrong from happening. That I was losing something important. I recognized this feeling. It was the same way I had felt when I saw Nate and Amanda about to kiss at the Latnok party. I had felt that I needed to protect Amanda from Nate because I knew what kind of person Nate was. I didn't know anything about Raymond Osgood, why did I feel I needed to protect Jessi from him?_


	2. Grace Selects a Replacement

Grace Kingsley sat at her table looking out the window at the lush green grounds, sipping her glass of Chardonnay while she waited. Eventually, the Maitre'd approached followed by Brian Taylor. As Brian took the seat across from Grace, the Maitre'd handed him a menu saying, "Your waiter will be with you in moment." Brian nodded at him and as he went away turned to Grace.

"Thank you for making the trip," Grace said.

"You told me that Jessi needed me," Brian said. "That it was a matter of life and death. Obviously I was going to take the risk of coming."

"Is it really a risk?" Grace asked.

"Adam Baylin's security chief, Tom Foss, made it clear that it would be unhealthy for me to stick around," Brian said. "Foss usually means what he says. I don't plan on sticking around long enough to find out."

"You may have to change your plans after I've explained the situation," Grace told him. She saw the waiter approaching, "Let's get lunch ordered and we can talk."

The waiter said, "Good afternoon, I'm Steve, do you have any questions?"

Grace said, "I think we're ready, I would like the Petrale Sole."

Brian said, "I'll have the Caesar Salad -- with the blackened steak. And Scotch, neat."

"Thank you," Steve noted down their orders and left their table..

As the waiter left, Grace said, "I know you have your sources. Have you been keeping up with what has been going on?"

"I know that Sarah Emerson has disappeared again, and is once more presumed dead," Brian looked at her with a cold stare. "The word is that your son, Michael Cassidy, had something to do with it."

Grace waved her hand dismissively, "We are not going to be talking about that. I brought you here for Jessi's sake."

Brian looked down and took a breath, controlling himself. When he looked back up he said, "I've also heard that both Kyle and Jessi were on the Latnok board. Is that true? How did that happen?"

"It's true," Grace confirmed. "After a number of unpleasant events, involving threats to the ones around Kyle, they made contact with me and said they wanted to meet the board. They wanted a working arrangement that would eliminate the threats. I arranged for them to attend the board meeting. At the meeting a number of the board members apparently became convinced that Kyle was Adam, back again to lead us." She smiled at Brian, "He does look a lot like Adam, doesn't he?" She sighed and then concluded, "They wanted him to take Adam's seat on the board. He refused unless Jessi was included. So they gave them the seat to share."

"I didn't think they were interested in Jessi," Brian objected. "I worked hard for them to even consider looking at her."

"They wanted Kyle and he was adamant, he said that they were a team. It was the two of them or nothing," Grace said. "There was grumbling but, in the end, they agreed."

"Are they lovers?" Brian asked.

"No, Kyle is besotted with the little blonde girl next door -- much to Jessi's dismay. Jessi is devoted to Kyle, though. I suspect that sooner or later the boy is going to notice her," Grace smiled. "In the meantime, Jessi has invented a new solar cell structure that is going to make her about ten million dollars over the next five years. The Latnok board has taken notice. There have been mutterings that they had been wrong not to listen to you."

Brian smiled, "I'm glad to see that they are starting to recognize her potential. A lot of problems could have been avoided if they had done so sooner."

The conversation paused as the waiter returned to the table and served their meals.

As the waiter left, Brian continued, "So, what's the life or death issue?"

"Well, the kids with stars in their eyes have decided to emulate Adam Baylin and fight for 'truth, justice and the American way'," Grace chuckled grimly. "When they got the financial information for the Latnok board meeting they dug in at an astonishing rate."

"And they've dug up some of your less savory activities?" Brian asked.

"They haven't dug anything up, yet," Grace said. "But they are clearly on the trail of a number of operations that the board as a whole would not approve of. I admit that I have some interests that I would rather they not find, but there are others with deeper and more dangerous secrets." She leaned forward for emphasis, "They have an 'us or them' mentality and think that if Jessi simply disappeared, Kyle would lose interest in digging into Latnok finances and spend his efforts looking for her -- in vain." She leaned back and shrugged, "They're probably right."

"They plan to kill Jessi?" Brian asked, dismayed.

"It hasn't come to that yet, but the idea is on the table. I've convinced them that we might be able to convince the kids to focus on the flowers and sunshine and stop digging into the dirt. Look at the good things they can accomplish and leave the unsavory operations alone."

"That's what Adam Baylin did," Brian objected. "And in the end, someone killed him."

"I think he was doing some digging," Grace said. "He always worked on a number of levels. Anyway if we don't take action, this is going to come to a head in a matter of weeks. We need to at least buy some time."

"So what do you want me to do?" Brian asked.

"You need to build their trust and see if you can guide them away from the danger," Grace said.

"Why don't you do that, you seem to be able to work with them?" Brian asked.

"They don't trust me," Grace admitted. "And my hands are dirty, I'm involved with this -- if I try to do it, they will follow the trail right through me. I think you'll have a better chance. I want to put some distance between me and them."

"Well, they don't trust me, either," Brian said. "The last time I saw Jessi, she was barricaded with Kyle and the Tragers and it was made clear to me that I was unwelcome. Then Tom Foss showed up and made it clear just how unwelcome I was. I don't think they'll even talk to me."

Grace explained, "I want to put you in as the head of the University of Washington Latnok student group. I only took the job temporarily. I've made no secret of the fact that I want to find a replacement. You're going to be that replacement. They work there and would continue in assistant positions. That will give you a basis for dealing with them without pounding on the door of the Trager house and demanding your daughter." She smiled thinly, "That wouldn't go well."

"She _is_ my daughter," Brian objected.

"Let me give you some advice, from the parent of one pod child to another," Grace waved a hand. "The time for us to read them bedtime stories and tuck them into bed is long gone. It never really existed. If you or I are going to build a relationship with them, it's going to be as adults. Kyle is utterly committed to being in the Trager household, he adores Nicole. In my very first contact with him I made it clear I had no intention of interfering with his family. That helped cool the tension a lot. It works for me."

"I'm well aware of how important living with the Trager's is for Kyle." Brian sighed, "So you think I should leave Jessi with the Tragers?"

"Yes, she isn't as tied to them as Kyle is, but she's rapidly becoming integrated into the family. She trusts Nicole and is functioning well. I suggest you leave the family intact. She won't be with them much longer anyway, they are both growing up. And, I have to admit, Nicole Trager is probably better equipped for the job than you or I. She's raised a couple of teenagers and is a licensed psychologist. She's also spent the last year successfully working with Kyle. I think that if you can build a bridge to Nicole Trager, Kyle and Jessi will follow her across it."

Brian looked out the window for a minute then looked back at Grace, "I don't really have a choice, do I? Ok, I'll do it. When do you want me to start?"

Grace said, "As soon as you can. Time is of the essence."

Brian nodded, "Give me a couple of days. I guess I have to pay Nicole Trager a visit, and then come to terms with Tom Foss." He took a breath and let it out slowly, "I'm not looking forward to that."

"Good," Grace said. "And, Brian, if you can manage this I might be able to help you get your ring back."

Brian Taylor looked at his bare hand, "That would be nice, I do miss it." He shrugged and continued, "But really, it's for Jessi."


	3. Beechwood Practice Field

Jessi was sitting on the bleachers at the fifty yard line when the team came out of the locker room to practice. A number of the players looked curiously in her direction but no one approached her until Raymond appeared near the end of the pack. He was carrying a thick binder and talking to an adult who was obviously a coach. When he saw Jessi he said something to the coach and jogged over to her, "Jessi, I'm glad you came."

"I promised that I would," Jessi said. "I went to the library and read about football so that I could learn how the game worked."

"That's very good," Raymond gave a small chuckle. "It's a complicated game. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have when we take a break." Down on the field, the coach blew his whistle. Raymond looked toward the field, "The coach is calling a meeting. I've got to go. Would you hang on to my playbook?" He held out the binder he was carrying.

"I'll take care of it," Jessi took it from him.

Raymond jogged over to join the players gathering for the meeting.

One of his friends looked up at the bleachers, "Who's the new girl?"

Raymond said, "Her name is Jessi, I asked her to the dance on Friday."

"Usually you go for the cheerleader type. She seems pretty geeky for you."

Raymond looked up and saw Jessi flipping rapidly through the pages of his playbook, "I've gone through most of that group. After Cynthia, I think I need a change. Jessi caught my eye." He gave his friend a knowing smile, "She drives a really hot red Corvette convertible. I bet she's got some fire hidden inside that geeky exterior." He laughed and said, "She's never seen a game of football before, so I thought she should watch practice."

"She's a football virgin, huh?"

Raymond grinned, "At the very least."

They practiced for about half an hour, going through various plays and talking about them afterward. As they continued, Raymond brought the team up to the line once more and took the snap. While he was stepping back one of the defenders made it by the inside of the left guard and was in his face, he threw the ball down the center of the field where it bounced on the grass with no one near it. He turned away in disgust and the coach blew his whistle. "Let's take a ten minute break, and then we'll come back and do it right. As Raymond walked toward the sidelines, someone threw him the ball. He caught it and climbed up the bleachers to where Jessi sat, carrying it and a bottle of sports drink.

He sat on the bleacher next to her, and took a long drink from the bottle. "So, what did you think, Jessi?"

Jessi observed, "According to the play you called, the wide receiver was supposed to run a post, not a hook, that's why your pass was so far away from him. You should have thrown it to the tight end. He was open on the slant option."

Raymond looked at her in astonishment, "I thought you said you didn't know anything about football. Were you joking with me?"

"I didn't know anything then. I read about it in the library," Jessi said. "While you were having your meeting, I read your play book. He was supposed to run a post on that play."

"You flipped through our play book and now you know all of our plays?" Raymond asked, incredulous.

"I remember what I read," Jessi told him.

"That's amazing. You must have a photographic memory. I've heard about them but I've never met anyone who had one," Raymond nodded. "That would really help me. I'm still working on learning it, myself. That's why I brought my book out to practice," Raymond frowned, "I didn't see the guy open on the slant. The defender was in my face too quickly. I just threw where I expected the wide receiver to be."

Jessi continued, "I think your left tackle is lining up too far to the outside, he should move six inches closer to the center. He is getting passed on the inside too often. A five degree difference in his angle of attack will give him better leverage and force the defender to the outside. That would give you more time."

Raymond stared at Jessi for a moment and then took another long drink to cover his confusion. Finally he asked, hesitantly, "So, did you see anything else?"

"Your right guard is hiding a limp," Jessi frowned, "I think his left ankle is injured and he's trying to keep it secret. Your left wide receiver isn't trying very hard to outrun the defender, he's yawning between plays so maybe he didn't get enough sleep last night. You are missing the open slant route much of the time. When the running back approaches the line ..."

Raymond held up his hand, "Hold up, that's enough. I can't keep all that straight."

"I'll write up notes for you, if that would help," Jessi offered. "I want to be able to help you."

"Maybe it would," Raymond said, dazed. The coach blew his whistle and Raymond said, "I've got to go back now. We can talk some more at the end of practice."

He walked down to the field deep in thought. When he got to the team he went to the left guard and said, "Bob, try lining up about a hand's width closer to the center. I think you are leaving a small opening."

As they started lining up, the center said, "We need a ball."

"I left it behind," Raymond turned toward Jessi.

Jessi saw the ball sitting on the bleacher next to where he had been sitting, she stood, picking it up, and threw a perfect spiral pass to the center of his chest. It hit with an audible impact. He caught it and handed it to the center who said, "Wasn't that about fifty yards?" Several other players nodded in agreement.

One of the other players said, "Who _is_ that?"

"That's my new girlfriend," Raymond absently rubbed the spot on his chest where the ball had hit him. "Hands off, guys, I saw her first." He gestured toward the football, "Let's line up and see if we can get it right this time."


	4. The Rack

The Rack was relatively crowded when Lori arrived with the rest of the after school crowd. As she waited to place her order she scanned the patrons, looking for Mark. She found him sitting at the table next to their usual one. She waved to him and he waved in return. After she got her smoothie, she went to join him.

"I forgot how crowded this place gets after school," Lori said. "Have you been waiting long?"

"About half an hour," Mark shrugged. "It was fine. I've been able to grade some homework." He indicated his laptop. He added, "And you're worth waiting for."

Lori smiled and leaned over to kiss him. She sat down, pulled out her folder of songs and spread them out on the table. "I've been working on these."

Mark looked at the array, "You've been really busy. You must be inspired by having your own night at 'Pockets'."

"Terrified is more like it," Lori admitted. "I have this image of running out of music too soon."

"You don't need that many new songs," Mark assured her. "It's perfectly reasonable to use the six you've already practiced. Then probably another five or six and you'll be able to fill forty five minutes. Keep in mind you need to allow some time for intros and to give the audience time to applaud before you start the next number."

"And if they sit there staring at me, what am I going to do?" Lori asked.

"That's not going to happen, Lori," Mark smiled. "People like your work."

Lori said, "Well, I have to get them written soon. We're at the beginning of the year and there isn't a lot of homework yet, but soon that's going to take up my time."

"Let's get started then," Mark said. "Show me what you've got."

Lori picked up the first paper, "Here's something that's rather quiet, it has some phrasing I really like..."

They spent the next half an hour going through the various songs that Lori was working on with Mark making comments. At the end Mark told her, "You probably have enough here. Obviously some of them need work, but I think they're all very nice. You're going to have some variation in quality. Even professional albums can be hit and miss."

"Well, as long as they aren't all misses." She changed the subject, "Remember when I nagged you to invite me to a dance at UDub?"

"I wouldn't call it nagging," Mark smiled. "I'm looking forward to it. I'd like the semester to start settling in first. It won't be long."

"Actually I was going to invite you to one of _my_ dances," Lori said.

"You want me to go to a _high school_ dance?" Mark asked with amused scorn.

"Why not," Lori spread her hands. "You're not that much older and you said you felt awkward dancing. This would let you practice without worrying about what people thought. After all, what do you care what a bunch of high school students think of you?"

"I care a lot what a certain high school student thinks of me," Mark protested. "But you do have a point. When is this dance?"

"This Friday night after the football game," Lori explained, "We always have a dance after our home games to help the guys burn off their testosterone. It tends to keep the mischief level down."

"I don't have any commitments for Friday night," Mark admitted. "As I told you, the dance scene at UDub hasn't gotten going yet. I suppose I could come."

"Good," Lori smiled conspiratorially, "There's a secret mission involved."

"Well, you know I specialize in secret missions," Mark returned her smile. "What's the mission?"

"Jessi has a date with the quarterback," Lori said. "It's the first time someone's asked her out on a date and I want to be there to keep an eye on her. My mother asked me to help make sure she successfully deals with the high school social scene."

"Jessi's dating the quarterback," Mark raised his eyebrows. "Now that's a surprise. I thought she was completely stuck on Kyle. What happened?"

"Well, she's still stuck on Kyle," Lori admitted. "But Kyle's still stuck on Amanda. He's mooning over the fact that she's away at the conservatory for the fall semester. Jessi was pining away and Raymond saw her in her red Corvette and asked her out. I told her to give it a try. Now I'm worried I may have gotten her in over her head. Dating the school quarterback is pretty high profile for a first date."

"So we are going to be there to catch her if she falls?" Mark asked.

"Well I don't think that her falling will be a problem." She smiled to herself and continued, "I just want to keep an eye on her. We can dance. It will give us a chance to practice together before we go to one of your dances. And it will be fun."

"It sounds like fun. It's a date," Mark agreed. "I like being undercover with you."

"Well, that's probably more appropriate at Jessi's apartment," Lori blushed. She paused for a moment and said, "But you know, I still don't have much homework. I could get away for an hour or two after dinner."

"I can make time," Mark said. "Likewise my schedule is still relatively light. And, I got my homework grading done while I waited. Meet you there?"

"I have to be home early," Lori said. "It sounds juvenile to say it, but it's a school night."

"That makes it deliciously naughty," Mark assured her.


	5. Trager Breakfast

Now that school had started once more, breakfast at the Trager house had become more hectic as everyone grabbed something to eat on the run. Jessi came to the table carrying a handful of computer printed pages and set them down while she got some orange juice.

"What's this?" Kyle asked. "Is it part of our storage project?"

"No," Jessi said. "Those are the notes I took about the football practice. I told Raymond that I would write down the mistakes I saw. This should help them play better."

"Who's Raymond?" Nicole asked. "And why the sudden interest in football?"

"He's the quarterback on the Beachwood football team," Jessi said. "He asked me to be his date for the dance on Friday after the football game. I went to the football practice after school yesterday to learn about the game of football."

"You didn't tell me you had a date," Nicole said.

Jessi looked worried, "Was I supposed to ask you first?"

"No, Jessi, it's fine. I was just surprised that you haven't talked about him before," Nicole said. "How long have you known him?"

"I just met him. He likes my Corvette," Jessi smiled. "He came up and talked to Lori and me when we got to school. Later, he met me in the hall and asked me to be his date for the dance. Lori had said that if he asked me on a date I should agree, so I did."

Everyone looked at Lori who looked defensive, "Hey, I just thought that it might be nice if Jessi had someone to date. She never gets to go out."

Nicole frowned, "Dating the high school quarterback is going to put her into a pretty complex social environment. I'm wondering if it's appropriate for Jessi's first dating experience."

"He asked me," Jessi frowned. "No one else has asked me on a date." She looked pointedly at Kyle who looked away.

Nicole caught the exchange, "I guess that's true. One of the problems that girls have in dating is that you can't always have the one you want ask you out." She looked at Jessi, "Do you like him?"

"He's been nice to me," Jessi shrugged. "We haven't spent much time talking so I really don't know much about him. Everyone thinks that being the quarterback is important." She looked at Kyle, "Kyle, why don't you play football? You would be better than any of the players, you could be quarterback." She thought for a moment and added, "I could do it, but they don't have girls on the football team."

"I don't think it is fair for us to compete with people in sports," Kyle said. "I think we would have an unfair advantage."

"You played basketball for a while," Stephen smiled, remembering. "You were amazing. You could sink shots from mid-court."

"That's the problem, I was too good. At the time I enjoyed being able to help the team, it made everyone happy, but I think that it was a mistake. I'm glad I stopped," Kyle said.

"You don't think we should use our abilities to compete with people?" Jessi asked.

"I've been thinking about that. I think that we can use our abilities to create things, to make the world a better place. I don't think that it's good for us to use them simply to beat someone at a competition. I don't think it's fair to them, they can't really compete with us."

"Everyone has different abilities," Jessi objected. "That's the point of a competition, to see who is the best."

"That's true," Kyle agreed. "But in our case we already know. All we would be doing is proving it to them, and making them unhappy. And we need to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves. Getting out on the field in front of hundreds of people and doing things that no one else is able to do would attract too much attention."

Stephen suggested, "You could scale back, limit yourself to just being good by normal standards."

"People with normal abilities lose games all the time. To fit in, I'd have to deliberately lose games that I was able to win," Kyle said. "How could I do that and feel part of a team? I'd be letting my teammates down."

Stephen frowned, "I guess you're right. I hadn't thought about it that way."

Nicole said, "I certainly agree with not wanting to attract attention." She looked at Jessi and smiled, "I'm glad he asked you. I'm sure you'll have a good time."

_I had the feeling of loss that Jessi was slipping away from me. When she had jumped off the cliff at the dam I thought I had lost her forever, but this was different. Jessi was becoming interested in someone else. She had said she wanted to be with me and I had pushed her away because I loved Amanda. I should be happy that she was beginning to have someone of her own, like me with Amanda, but I wasn't._


	6. Nicole's Surprise Visitor

It was the middle of the afternoon, with all the kids off at school and Stephen at UDub, Nicole was catching up on her reading when the doorbell rang. She went to the door and opened it to see Brian Taylor standing on her doorstep.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Trager," he said.

"I thought you'd left town," she said.

"I had," Brian admitted. "Grace Kingsley has asked me to come back. She has a job she wants me to do." Nicole stood, looking at him with a firm, unwelcoming expression. He opened his hands, gave a thin smile and said quietly, "Nicole, I'm not here to cause trouble or disrupt your family, I just thought it would be a good idea for the two of us to have a quiet talk in the afternoon."

Nicole took a deep breath, "You may as well come in." She led him into the living room and indicated a seat across from the coffee table where she had been reading, "Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? I'm having tea."

"Tea would be fine," Brian said, "with a little cream, please."

When Nicole came back with his tea, he was leaning over reading the article she had left open on the coffee table. He read the title aloud, "'Developmental patterns in the highly gifted'," he looked up at her. "Does it help?"

She set his tea down in front of him and smiled, "Not very much, I'm afraid. There doesn't seem to be anything in there about the child moving things with his or her mind."

"There isn't any book that covers raising pod grown geniuses," Brian said. "We're in uncharted territory." He took a deep breath and let it out, "I really didn't do a very good job of relating to Jessi. Grace told me that she was doing well here. How _is_ she doing?"

Nicole sat down and took a sip of her tea, "She's settling in, becoming a part of the family. She and Kyle have a strong affinity, of course, but she's developing a bond with my daughter, Lori, that I find very encouraging." She took another sip of tea and continued thoughtfully, "When we first got Kyle, he was deeply concerned with finding where he fit in the world. Jessi's situation was similar but much more extreme. She had to deal with the false memories that Madacorp implanted. Then there were her experiences with you followed by Sarah's appearance and subsequent disappearance. I really wouldn't recommend disrupting her again. She's just starting to have some stability in her life." She looked up at Brian with a concerned expression.

"I'm not here to try to drag her away, Nicole," Brian assured her. "She is my daughter and I want the best for her. If she needed a home I would offer her one, of course. But she seems to have a nice one here." He spread his arms to indicate the house. "Kyle certainly was determined to get back here and live with your family. It's clearly a nurturing environment." He paused for a moment and then continued, "I agree with you that she doesn't need disruption. And you seem to have a more effective influence on her than I had. Maybe it's your psychological training."

"I've worked with quite a few teenagers with varying types of problems. To a degree, she shares common characteristics with normal teenagers who have had a disruptive family background. On that basis, normal counseling approaches work. Of course I've never had to deal with someone who's had false memories electronically implanted so I'm on my own there. Both Kyle and Jessi seem to have a very strong longing for a sense of family. I think that's consistent with experiments with chimps that were raised in isolation, they crave human contact. And then there is the off the chart intelligence and unusual mental skills. The literature," she pointed to the journal, "can give hints. Many highly intelligent people have problems in social environments." Nicole paused for a moment and then added, thoughtfully, "One of the things that can be difficult in dealing with them is that their high intelligence and rationality masks the fact that their emotional maturity and social skills are lagging behind their physical age. You have to deal with a super genius, a normal teenager and an eight year old all in one package."

"You seem to have a good handle on them," Brian chuckled. "I suppose it helps to have professional training and the only two pod grown children in the world living in your house." He smiled at her and said, "You're the world's expert."

"Maybe I should write a paper," Nicole said with a laugh. Seeing Brian's expression she quickly added, "Don't worry, I have no desire whatsoever to call attention to them. So, why _have_ you come back? What does Grace Kingsley want you to do?"

Brian said, "She wants me to take over the running of the University of Washington Latnok student group. She was only there temporarily and she wants to get back to her other duties. Since Kyle and Jessi work there it really needs to be someone who knows the truth about them and that's a very closely kept secret. I'm one of the few who know it, and I was available. I also know both of them quite well, personally." He shrugged, "Although I think I have some fences to mend with Jessi -- and with Kyle for that matter."

"I knew Grace was only there temporarily," Nicole nodded. "It will, of course, concern Jessi to have you reappear on the scene."

"That's one of the reasons I'm here this afternoon," Brian said. "I think it might be best if you prepared them for my reappearance and if we present a common front. I do want to build a relationship with my daughter, Nicole. It doesn't have to be a custodial one. I would be grateful for your advice and assistance with that."

"The more she can connect with the world, the more secure she will feel," Nicole advised. "You could help with that. If you want to build a relationship with her, I would suggest that you be supportive but avoid pressuring her. When she lived with you, you discouraged her contact with Kyle and put a great deal of pressure on her to perform. This left her feeling trapped with no relief mechanism. Her connection to Kyle is the cornerstone of her connection to the world. I'm working to expand on that."

"I'm afraid that was more about my needs than hers," Brian admitted. "At first she was eager to expand her abilities, she's amazingly like her mother in that, but I didn't realize that I was pushing her too far. The people at Latnok thought that her existence was a mistake. I desperately wanted to prove them wrong. I guess she and Kyle did a better job of that on their own than I imagined. They're on the Latnok board now."

"That was certainly a surprise to me," Nicole agreed. "They say they want to encourage Latnok to follow Adam and Sarah's dream. I have to tell you that my experiences with Latnok have been less than comforting. It still bothers me to have them involved."

"I was Adam's best friend, and a good friend to Sarah as well, I would certainly like to see them succeed," Brian said. "But I also know that there are snakes in the garden and they need to tread carefully. I hope to help them with that." He finished his tea and set the cup down. He looked up and said, "I'm glad I came to talk to you, Nicole. It reassures me to know that you are looking out for Jessi. I would very much like for us to have a good relationship. I could certainly use your advice in interacting with both Jessi and Kyle. We both want the best for them." He stood up and Nicole stood up to see him out. "Will you tell them that I will be showing up at Latnok?" He asked. "I don't want to surprise them."

"I will," Nicole promised. "I think that that is a good idea."

They walked to the door. As he was standing on the porch he turned back, "I really enjoyed this, Nicole. Jessi and Kyle are very important to me and there really has been no one I could talk to about them." He looked up and down the street, "One more thing. I still need to talk to Tom Foss and I don't know how to reach him. If I know Foss, though, he knows I'm here. My plan is to go sit in my car and read a book. I expect that Foss will show up shortly. I don't want you to be concerned to see me sitting out there. I won't be spying on you. I'll just be waiting to see if he shows up."

"Thanks for the warning," Nicole laughed. "Do you really think that will work?"

"We'll see." Brian shrugged and turned to walk to his car. Nicole closed the door behind him.

After getting in his car, Brian picked up his book, found his current spot and started reading. He still hadn't finished the chapter when the passenger door opened and Tom Foss climbed in, closing the door after him. "Hello, Tom," he said.

"I thought I made it clear that you shouldn't come back."

"The situation has changed," Brian said. "I needed to come back for Jessi's sake."

"Jessi is happy living with the Tragers," Foss was firm.

"I know. I just had a pleasant conversation with Nicole Trager. I assured her that I wasn't going to interfere with Jessi's living arrangements," Brian told him. "I've been called in by Grace Kingsley. She wants me to run the University of Washington student Latnok office. As incentive, she warned me that Jessi was in danger."

"What kind of danger?" Foss asked.

"She said that Jessi and Kyle were digging into Latnok's finances and were likely to uncover things that some people didn't want exposed. She said that some of them were thinking of making Jessi 'disappear' to make them stop."

"Do you trust Grace Kingsley?" Foss asked with a hint of incredulity.

"Of course not," Brian said. "She's a snake and she's looking out for herself. Obviously, if I get them to stop looking then her interests will be protected. That doesn't mean the threat isn't real, though. What _would_ happen if Jessi simply disappeared one day without a trace?"

"Kyle would drop everything and put all his energies into looking for her," Foss agreed.

"Exactly," Brian nodded. "So we have to treat it as a credible threat. She wants me to get them to focus on the more admirable parts of Latnok and leave the dirt undisturbed. I'm not sure that isn't a good idea."

"I think you will have a hard time getting Kyle and Jessi to go along with that," Foss said. "They're pretty determined."

"That may be, but I had to come to see what I could do to help."

"You weren't much help when I was tied to a chair in Madacorp," Foss bitterly accused him.

"I was more help than you give me credit for, Tom. You were pretty broken down. I had to get you angry to make you pull yourself back together. I was doing everything I could to get Jessi and Kyle out of there."

"You were helping them get the Zzyzx information out of Kyle," Foss accused him.

"I didn't care about the Zzyzx information," Brian said. "I just wanted to get them out of there with their brains intact. In the end, I called in the cavalry and they got rid of Ballantine."

"I still don't trust you," Foss informed him.

"I'm not asking you to trust me," Brian opened his hands. "I just want you to keep an eye on my daughter."

"I'm already doing that," Foss said. After a moment he added, "But I will take your warning into consideration."

"I'll pass on anything else I find out," Brian promised. "But Grace Kingsley runs the whole Latnok student outreach program so I will be reporting to her. She'll be controlling the information I get and I think she's already given me everything she plans to."

Foss looked at Brian with an evaluating expression then handed him a card, "Here is a number that you can reach me at if there is anything else you think I should know. Parking in front of the Trager house is not the best way to get in touch with me."

"It was the best way I could think of," Brian admitted. He took a breath, "Tom, I know things have gone wrong between us, but we worked together on Adam's behalf for years. I hope we can rebuild a working relationship." He held out his hand.

Foss looked at the hand and made no effort to reach for it. "We'll see," he opened the card door and got out, closing it behind him. He walked toward the rear of the car and away.

Brian Taylor took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing the tension in his body. He looked at the Trager house and saw Nicole watching him out of the window. He waved at her and she raised her hand in response. He started the engine and drove away.


	7. Beechwood High

The halls of Beechwood High were crowded as students rushed to their lockers to put their books away at the end of the day. Raymond Osgood was walking down the hall with Bob Warren, his left guard. Bob asked, "So is your new girlfriend coming to practice again, today?"

Raymond shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't seen her all day. We didn't arrange anything."

Bob grinned at him, "Maybe we should have her come out for the team, she threw a terrific pass yesterday. We could use a good back-up quarterback."

"I wouldn't mind her studying under me," Raymond returned the grin. "It did hit with authority, though. She's pretty smart, too. She memorized our play book while she was sitting in the bleachers."

"I'm still having trouble learning it," Bob said. "Speaking of her, I was asking around. It seems that last year she made a splash by jumping off of the school roof."

"She tried to commit suicide?" Raymond asked with concern.

"No, it was some kind of a trick. She wasn't hurt at all," Bob explained. "Everyone asked her how she did it but she said that she just jumped. A bunch of people climbed up on the roof to watch her do it again and she backed down. No one ever found out what the trick was. She's a pretty strange girl."

"I didn't hear anything about it," Raymond said. "I never noticed her before I saw her 'Vette. I don't really know anything about her. I haven't said more than a few words to her. I just asked her to the dance."

"Here she comes," Bob said gesturing in front of them.

Jessi came down the hall carrying a sheaf of papers. When she met them she handed him the papers, "Raymond, I brought you the notes I promised."

Raymond glanced meaningfully at Bob who said, "I've got to go suit up, see you at practice." He nodded at Jessi and went past them and continued down the hall.

Raymond leafed through the pages, "This is a lot of work. You didn't have to do all of this. There must be about twenty pages here."

"Twenty three," Jessi casually corrected him. "It only took me a few minutes. I hope it's helpful."

He started to read, then stopped and looked at her, "This is better than the notes the coach gives us, you have a good eye for football."

"Thank you," Jessi was obviously pleased. "I created a couple of plays. They're in the back. I looked at your playbook and thought about your personnel and what else you could do. I think they might work."

Raymond turned to the end and looked at the first one, his fingers tracing the routes. "That might work," he nodded. "Fredrick could probably run that route." He looked at the other one, "I'm not sure what you want to happen here." He showed her the page.

"The safety is going to commit to the first receiver, when the second one breaks here," Jessi pointed, "he will be left behind."

Raymond frowned, "Maybe. I'm not sure we could run this without a lot of practice. It would take precise timing for it to work. The first one would be easier to put in." He held up the papers, "I think the coach will be very interested in this. Are you coming to practice again this afternoon?"

Jessi shook her head, "No, I need to go over to UDub today. I've seen your practice and know how the game is played. I'm ready for the game on Friday before the dance." She looked at him smiling.

"What did you say you did over at UDub?" Raymond asked. "You said something about helping students with their science projects. Are you a volunteer in a research project?"

"No," Jessi said. "When they get stuck on a problem, I look at what they are doing and give advice."

"If you're that smart, what are you doing still in high school?" Raymond asked.

Jessi said, "I'm trying to have a normal life. Do things like go to football games or go to the dance with you."

Raymond smiled, "I'm looking forward to it." He looked at the thinning hall crowd. "I've got to get to practice. The coach doesn't like people being late." He headed down the hall in the same direction Bob had gone earlier. Jessi watched him go, smiling.


	8. The Rack

Josh arrived at the Rack at the head of the after school rush. He quickly put on his apron and started taking orders. As he gave her the strawberry smoothie she had ordered, Katie said, "This is pretty hectic."

"Tell me about it," Josh agreed. "We are still down one person with Amanda gone and everyone comes in at the same time. I only get paid for a couple of hours and I do about four hours worth of work."

"You should demand hazard pay," Katie said.

"Hey, can I get some service down here," a customer called from the other end of the counter.

"Got to go," Josh told her.

Katie nodded and sipped her smoothie while Josh dealt with the hectic flow of orders. When she saw that he wasn't going to be able to talk to her for a while, she opened her literature book and started reading her assignment. After about an hour, the rush thinned out and Josh was able to have a moment to spare. He came over to where she was and she shut her book, marking the place.

"That was a lot of smoothies," Josh said. "Did you get any homework done?"

"Almost all of my literature assignment," Katie said. She frowned, "That looked hard, are you sure you want to work after school."

"Not really," Josh said. "Mostly I'm going to work weekends during the school year, but the boss insists on me taking an afternoon shift because it's so busy." He sighed, "This is usually when I would call Andy." He noticed Katie's smile fade slightly.

"We haven't been able to play G-Force together as much now that school has started," Katie commented.

"It's hard enough scheduling things around school. But scheduling things around school in two different time zones three hours apart is almost impossible," Josh grumbled.

A straggling customer came to the counter. Josh said, "Excuse me" and turned to him. It was Nate Harrison.

"What can I get for you," Josh asked guardedly.

"I've come in a couple of times looking for Amanda. She never seems to be here," Nate said.

"She isn't working here anymore," Josh told him. "She's in New York."

Nate looked surprised, "I didn't hear anything about this. What's she doing in New York?"

"She's spending a semester studying piano at a conservatory. She won't be back until Christmas," Josh said. "I don't think I'll survive until then unless we get some help."

"You do look understaffed," Nate agreed. "Would it be too much trouble to make me a Latte?"

"One latte coming up," Josh fixed the Latte and gave it to Nate who thanked him and carried it over to a table at the side of the room. Josh looked around to see if anyone else was waiting. When he saw that no one was, he went back over to where Katie was waiting.

"I'm sorry to make you sit and wait," Josh apologized. "It's just so busy."

"That's all right," Katie said. "I'm just doing my homework anyway. It's more fun here than at home -- and quieter."

"This place?" Josh asked waving his arms around the room still filled with students talking to one another.

"You haven't met my two little brothers -- yet," Katie smiled. "They make more noise than your customers do."

Josh paused for a moment of indecision, "There's a dance after the football game on Friday."

"There's always a dance after home games," Katie confirmed.

"Would you like to go to this one with me?" Josh asked.

Katie's expression brightened, she said, "I'd love to." Then her smile faded slightly, "I'm not a very good dancer, though."

"That's all right," Josh assured her with a smile. "I've got that covered. We'll make it up as we go."


	9. Trager Dinner

The light through the windows of Trager house was tinted by the coming late spring sunset. The Trager family was sitting around the dining table having just finished dinner.

Josh pushed back his chair, "I'm going to go see if I can talk to Andy, there might be time to talk for a few minutes before she goes to bed." He got up and headed for his room.

"Don't keep her up too late," Nicole reminded him.

"I'm going to work on my songs," Lori announced. "I have a lot of practicing to do before I'm ready to perform them in public." She left for her room as well.

Jessi turned to Stephen, "Kyle and I are working on a project and we need to do some computer modeling to see if our idea is going to work. We need to have more computing power. Could you help me get it?"

Stephen was puzzled, "You want me to help you pick out a new computer? You both already know far more about computer hardware than I do."

"We want to build a blade based cluster," Jessi explained. "But it will need more electrical power than we have available in the house. I think we are going to need to rent some industrial space with higher power availability."

"How big a cluster are we talking about?" Stephen frowned.

"We want to start with a 512 cores. We will probably want to expand it in the future."

"You're talking about the kind of capacity that Madacorp has," Stephen raised his eyebrows.

"It's a very complex model," Kyle said. "We don't need to support a large infrastructure, we mostly need processing power."

"Would you be able to get space at the Latnok facility at UDub?" Stephen asked.

"We want this to be something we control," Jessi said. "I don't trust Latnok."

"I can understand that," Stephen nodded. He thought for a moment, "You'll need power, air conditioning, and don't forget security."

"We should probably talk to Foss about security," Kyle agreed.

"Maybe Foss would like to move his base there," Jessi suggested, "Instead of that warehouse he currently stays at."

Kyle looked at her in surprise, "How did you know about Foss's warehouse?"

"I visited him once," Jessi said. "I had something I wanted to talk to him about."

"This will be expensive," Stephen warned. "Are you sure you want to spend this much money?"

"It's an important project," Jessi said. "Kyle and I are working on it together." She smiled at him.

"Of course, I'll be glad to help, it sounds like a lot of fun actually," Stephen said.

Jessi told him, "I'll give you the plans and the requirements we have figured out. We want to get started on this soon. Our project is stopped until we can model our idea."

Nicole had been drinking her tea and watching the exchange with bemusement. As it came to a conclusion she interjected, "There is something else we should talk about. I had an unexpected visitor this afternoon."

"Who was it?" Kyle asked.

"Brian Taylor," Nicole said.

Jessi, who had been confidently and excitedly discussing their plans, seemed to shrink into herself, "I don't want to live with him again. I like it here." She looked at Kyle. Reluctantly, she turned to Nicole, "Do you want your space back? You don't need to have me here anymore if I have a place I can go."

Kyle objected, "Jessi shouldn't have to live with him if she doesn't want to. He wasn't good for her, he pushed her too hard."

Nicole held up a hand, "Jessi, this is your home. You are a part of this family. I told you that I would be there for you and I will be. You can count on me. Brian doesn't want to interfere with you living here -- if that's what you still want."

"I have a home," Jessi said. "I have a family. I don't want to leave."

"Then you don't have to," Nicole assured her. "He couldn't take you away even if he wanted to. At your age, your wishes would be paramount in a court of law."

Stephen commented wryly, "And no one involved is going to let this situation get anywhere near a court of law."

Jessi began to relax, "Thank you, Nicole."

"Of course you have to stay," Stephen said. "I don't want to go back to making the pancakes." Jessi smiled gratefully at him.

"So why did he come back?" Kyle asked. "Why did he come to see you?"

"Grace Kingsley has asked him to take over for her at the UDub Latnok group," Nicole explained. "He said that it had to be someone who knew about the two of you which he does. He came to tell me so that I could let you know ahead of time. And to assure me he had no intention of trying to take Jessi away from her home."

"At the last board meeting, Grace did say that she wanted to find a replacement," Kyle acknowledged. "So, now are we going to work for him?"

"That was my understanding," Nicole said.

"I don't think I want to," Jessi still hadn't regained her confidence.

Nicole gestured with an open hand, "Jessi, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I think you should give Brian a chance, though. He seems genuinely interested in your well being. And, he can't make you do anything. It might be better than working for Grace."

"If you think so, Nicole," Jessi said.

"Well, I don't trust him," Kyle said.

"That's probably wise," Nicole nodded. "I don't really trust anyone associated with Latnok, except for the two of you, of course. But then you are already working with Grace."

"This will mean we can't watch her as closely anymore," Kyle commented. "That's probably part of her plan."

"And she can't watch us," Jessi said.

"I should call Foss," Kyle said. "He'll be unhappy to see Brian back."

"They've already spoken," Nicole told them. "Brian sat in his car in front of the house until Tom Foss showed up. They spoke for a while and then separated. Neither seemed the worse for wear. You should call him and talk to him, anyway."

"That's a good idea," Kyle took hold of Jessi's hand and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry," he assured her. "We can handle him, we're a great team."

Jessi smiled gratefully at him.


	10. Josh's Room

When Josh got to his room he messaged Andy, "Are you still up?"

She responded, "Yes, not in bed yet. Want to video chat?"

Josh logged into his computer and activated his web cam. Andy appeared on the screen, wearing her pajamas, "I thought maybe you weren't going to be done with dinner before I had to go to bed."

"I didn't want to miss talking to you. It's really a pain to work the after school shift, especially without Amanda there. There are a lot of customers in a short time. And that's really the best time for us to be able to talk."

"You don't have to work tomorrow, right?" Andy asked.

"I only have a couple of afternoons a week," Josh said. "I'll be working afternoons on Saturday and Sunday, but I'll have the mornings off. A three hour time zone difference is really a pain."

"Maybe we can get in some G-Force?" Andy suggested. "Has Katie been around?"

"She was doing her homework at the Rack this evening," Josh said.

"So, have you done it? Have you asked her on another date?" Andy asked. "You took her to the movies. You can't just leave it hanging there. The girl will think you don't care."

"I did ask her to the Friday dance after the game," Josh told her with a hint of reluctance.

"That's my boy," Andy said. "A slow learner but he catches on."

"I'd rather go with you," Josh admitted.

"You'd look pretty silly dancing with a cell phone," Andy laughed.

"Yeah," Josh looked at her image for a moment, "Is there anyone in Cleveland who catches _your_ eye?"

Andy shrugged, "It's far too soon. No one went to the trouble of finding me a new boyfriend."

"That was inconsiderate of me, I guess," Josh said.

"So, I'm still in the resume gathering stage," Andy said airily. "After that I have to sort through all the candidates, do the interviews, then the callbacks. It takes a lot of time."

"You make it sound like quite a production."

"Of course it is," Andy said. "Look at all the work I had to put in on you, training you from the ground up on how to date. I don't want to go through that again. I'm going to get someone who's broken in."

"And who can kick your ass in G-Force," Josh added.

"Well, that wasn't a requirement for you, was it?" Andy challenged him. "I think we can get by with simple competence. Do you want to be part of the interview team? We can have the final candidates log in and play G-Force with us."

"That would be fun," Josh's voice didn't sound like it would be fun at all.

"Yes it would," Andy had a similar lack of enthusiasm.

They sat looking at each other for a while. Then Josh reached up and stroked the cheek of the image on the screen. "I miss touching you."

"I miss you touching me too." They looked at each other for a while longer in silence then Andy said, "I have to log off and go to bed or I'll have two mothers in here."

"Good night, Andy," Josh said.

"Good night, Josh," Andy said. And then, quietly, "I love you."

"I love you," Josh said. The screen went blank.


	11. UDub Latnok

As Kyle and Jessi walked down the stairs to the Latnok area, they could tell that something had happened. Most of the students were talking to each other. Very few of them were working on their projects. As they got to the bottom of the stairs, Mark came over and told them, "You missed the announcement."

"We missed the announcement?" Kyle asked.

"Grace announced she was leaving and that we had a new coordinator. A guy named Brian Taylor," Mark said. At the mention of the name, he glanced at Jessi with a brief puzzled expression and then shrugged it off. He said, "He seems nice enough. More staid than Michael Cassidy, but he seems more approachable than Grace."

"We've met Brian," Kyle assured him. "He's been around Latnok for a long time. I think he'll be fine."

"He's in the office with Grace. I guess it's his office now," Mark shrugged. "I'm sure you can go in and talk to them."

"We will," Kyle led Jessi toward the door. He took her hand to reassure her and she rested her other hand on his biceps. He knocked on the door.

They heard Brian Taylor's voice say, "Come in."

Inside the office it was a repetition of the first time they had met Grace. Then it had been Cassidy sitting behind the desk, this time, it was Brian. Grace had the chair at the side of the desk.

"Have a seat," Brian indicated the two seats in front of the desk. After they sat down, he continued, "Grace has been bringing me up to speed on what's been going on here. I guess the biggest thing that's happening is the two of you."

Grace turned to Brian, "I think we've gone over everything and I can leave this place in your hands." She turned to Kyle and Jessi, "I was just waiting until the two of you got here so that I could say goodbye. Of course, it really isn't goodbye, we have the board meetings and, I suspect, we'll run into each other often enough. We do have a connection," she said, looking at Kyle. "What it is, only time will tell."

"I suppose so," Kyle said, looking at her.

She took a couple of business cards out of her jacket pocket. "I wrote my private number on the back. If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to call." She stood and handed one to Kyle and the other to Jessi. She went to the door, turned back to the room and said to Brian, "Give me a call after you've finished settling in."

"I will," Brian promised. Grace left the room and closed the door. Brian visibly relaxed. He turned to Jessie, "Jessi, it's good to see you again. How are you?"

"I'm living at the Trager's," Jessi said bluntly. "I like it there."

"I'm glad you have a home you like," Brian said. "I wish I would have given you a better one. If you're happy there, then that's fine with me. I want you to be happy."

"You pushed her too hard," Kyle challenged him. "You could have hurt or killed her. You were with Adam all those years. You saw what it did to him."

"I know," Brian admitted. "Latnok threw me out for creating Jessi. They thought she was a mistake. I wanted very badly to prove them wrong and I pushed too hard." He paused for a moment, then continued, "To be fair, though, at the beginning Jessi was eager to see what she could do." He looked at Jessi, "You remind me so much of Sarah." He smiled and looked down remembering. He looked back up and said, "It seems as though all my efforts were misguided. I wanted Latnok to take you seriously and now the two of you are on the board." He laughed, "It doesn't get much more serious than that."

"You did make me stronger," Jessi admitted.

"But it was too dangerous," Kyle objected. "You pushed too fast."

"I'm glad you're looking out for her, Kyle," Brian said. "I wish Adam had done a better job of looking out for Sarah."

"She can always count on me," Kyle promised. Jessi turned and smiled at him, resting her hand on his forearm.

Brian noticed the exchange and turned to Jessi, "And, I guess, congratulations are in order. I've heard about your invention and your success with it. One of my jobs with Adam was helping him get his inventions out into the world. He did well, but somehow I think the two of you will do more."

"We want to make a difference in the world," Kyle said. "We want to help people."

"And I'm sure you'll do that," Brian sat for a moment, then looked at Jessi, "Jessi, I had a long talk with Nicole Trager, I'm glad you have her looking out for you as well as Kyle and the rest of the Trager family too. I do really care for you and will be looking out for you too. You have a lot of people who care about you. You're not alone in the world."

"Thank you," Jessi's tension was obviously lowered.

"I think we can work together here," Brian nodded. "I worked to help Adam all his life. I look forward to helping the two you as well. If there is anything you need, don't hesitate to ask."

_Brian Taylor was back in Jessi's life and mine as well. He was Jessi's father and a connection to Adam. While Jessi had started out apprehensive I could sense that her tension was lowering, her heart rate steadying. Perhaps in time she could build a relationship with her father. I could not see myself doing the same with Grace. Brian's physiological reactions had been consistent with he had been saying. He was very disturbed about what had happened to Sarah. I didn't sense that he was trying to deceive us, but I did feel that there was something important that he was keeping from us. What had he done to cause Adam to become disillusioned with him? I knew part of the story. My holographic memory from Zzyzx had revealed that he had conspired with Kern when Adam had been thrown out of the facility._


	12. The Dance

After the game, Jessi waited outside of the door where Raymond had told her that he would meet her. There were a number of other girls there, waiting for their dates to get dressed as well. Jessi stood off to the side as they spoke among themselves, glancing at her from time to time with unfriendly looks. After a short wait, players started coming out of the locker room, showered and dressed for the dance. As they came out many of them were greeted by their dates, frequently they kissed and then went into the dance. Eventually Raymond came out, saw Jessi and went over to her. Jessi looked at him awkwardly and he smiled "Hi, Jessi. Let's go dancing." He held out his arm and she took it, relaxing and he led her toward the dance.

"You won," she said. "28 to 21. There were a lot of random factors, I couldn't figure out how it was going to come out."

"Neither could I," he laughed. "We used your new play. It worked. I think that got us thirty yards when we needed them."

"Thirty two," Jessi said. "Fredrick changed direction a yard too late or he would have gotten farther."

"Well, I though it was great," Raymond said, "sometimes you have to take what you can get and be happy." Jessi glanced at him and tilted her head, perhaps looking at him differently. As they went through the door, he guided them toward the refreshments. He said, "I'm always thirsty after a game."

"Dehydration, you need to replenish your electrolytes, you also need a source of glucose," Jessi observed.

"Which is why God made sports drinks," Raymond said. "Do you want one of these or something else?"

"I think the sports drinks are made by a local company," Jessi frowned. She smiled at him, "I'd like a soda, though."

As they stood watching the dancers and drinking their drinks, Raymond asked her, "So do you go to dances a lot?"

"No, this is my second one," Jessi said. "I don't think I'll be able to dance very well."

"That's all right," Raymond assured her. "Just move with the music and it will be fine." The song ended and the next one began. "I really like this song," Raymond said. "Let's put these down and get out there." They set their drinks down and he took her hand, leading her to the floor. They began dancing, Jessi began uncertain and stiff but was watching the other girls dance and copying them, improving as the dance progressed.

* * *

On the other side of the dance floor, Mark and Lori were dancing, or at least struggling to dance. Lori was relaxed and completely comfortable but Mark was stiff and self conscious.

"I warned you I don't dance very well," Mark said self consciously.

"Your performance isn't graded," Lori assured him. "You and I are just having fun moving together. It doesn't matter what you do, get into the spirit of the music. You know music."

"But all these _high school_ kids are much better at it than I am," Mark said. "It makes me feel inadequate."

"They're high school kids," Lori shrugged. "They live to dance. You live for science. Of course they dance better than you do. But you're not trying to impress anyone. It's just a form of non-verbal communications. So communicate with me."

"I score well in communications skills," Mark protested, and then admitted, "at least written ones."

"You don't have any trouble with non-verbal communications when we are at Jessi's apartment," Lori observed.

Mark blushed, "That's different. This is dancing."

"It's kind of the same thing," Lori said, "only we have our clothes on, and are a little farther apart. Dance with _me_."

Mark smiled at the idea and began to relax and started to move more smoothly.

* * *

The song ended and Raymond took Jessi by the hand and led her from the back to where they had left their drinks. He moved his shoulder slightly trying to ease some stiffness. Jessi asked, "Are you injured? Your shoulder seems stiff."

"Yeah," he admitted, "they drove me into the turf hard a couple of times. Throwing a lot of passes is rough on the shoulder too. I should really be icing it, but sitting in a tub on a Friday night is not my idea of fun."

Jessi's smile faded for a moment but then recovered. She looked around the room and pointed to a corner, "Let me massage it for you. We should go over there away from the sound system, it's quieter there and it will help you relax."

"It will be fine," Raymond protested. "I'm used to it. A little pain is part of the game."

"Your arm is important to playing football," Jessi objected. "Let me see what I can do." She took his hand and led him to the spot she had seen away from the electronics. He followed, reluctantly. "Sit here," she said, indicating a chair.

Raymond sat down and Jessi placed her hands on both sides of his shoulder, massaging gently as she concentrated. "Your hands feel really warm," Raymond observed. After a moment he looked surprised, "That feels amazing." Jessi massaged for about a minute, her eyes unfocused as she concentrated, then she took her hands away and looked at Raymond questioningly. He moved his shoulder in a variety of directions testing his range of movement. "This is terrific," he said. "I don't think my arm has ever felt this good after a game. Thank you." He stood up and they walked back to where they had left their drinks. He smiled at her, "You are a girl of amazing talents."

* * *

Elsewhere on the floor, Josh and Katie were dancing. Josh was dancing with his normal exhibitionism and Katie was trying to follow along, laughing at his enthusiasm.

"You dance really well," Katie said admiringly.

"I could dance better if there wasn't so much static in the music," Josh complained. "It's distracting."

Katie said, "It sounds better now, I think it's stopped." After a few more beats, the song ended and Katie said, "Let's sit down for a moment, I need to breathe. I don't get to go dancing very often and dancing with you is high energy." She took Josh's hand and led him toward some chairs. As they sat down she turned to him and said, "I'm having a great time, thank you for bringing me."

"I'm having fun too," Josh said with just a hint of surprise. Katie leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Josh put his arm around her and she leaned on his shoulder.

* * *

Next came a few more active dances, then the music shifted to a slower, more romantic form. Across the dance floor, couples moved closer together. As Raymond pulled Jessi close she was initially hesitant but seeing the other couples she relaxed into his arms. They swayed with the music. As they danced, Raymond slid his hand down her back and rested it at the top of her hip. Jessi mimicked him. Encouraged he moved his hand farther down and Jessi did as well.

* * *

Lori and Mark were likewise in an embrace. Mark said, "I like this kind of dancing more."

Lori smiled, "That's because we're just holding each other, you're not thinking about dancing -- Oh, my God!'

"What?" Mark started to pull away.

Lori pulled him close again, "It's Raymond and Jessi, they're almost pasted together with their hands on each other's butts. That's really moving along faster than I thought it would."

"You know, that sounds like a really good idea," Mark said, moving his hand down. Lori looked at him as if to complain and then leaned into him enjoying being close.

* * *

Josh and Katie were holding each other and dancing to the music as well, but not as closely as either of the other two couples. Katie had her head on Josh's shoulder and a happy smile on her face. Josh's smile was more tentative. The dance ended and as they moved apart, Katie placed her hands on either side of Josh's head and kissed him. Josh returned the kiss with a little hesitation. They separated and Katie's spirits drooped slightly. "I guess that's our 'thing', again," she said.

"What's that?" Josh asked, recovering from the kiss.

"I'm not Andy."

"I'm sorry, Katie," Josh said.

* * *

As the dance ended, Raymond kissed Jessi and she, with a slight hesitation returned the kiss. It went on for a while and then they finally broke. "I think we need to get something more to drink," Raymond said, catching a breath. As they walked to the drinks Jessi looked at him smiling and he bent over and gave her a small kiss. "I'm glad I asked you to the dance," he said.

"I'm glad Lori told me to come," Jessi said.

"We can thank Lori," Raymond said.

Jessi looked around, "I think she's over there." She looked at Raymond, noticing the look on his face, "That was just an expression, right?" He nodded, smiling a bemused smile.

After a few more dances, including a couple that Raymond and Jessi danced with similar entanglements the dance came to an end. As Raymond and Jessi left the hall, with her on his arm, he said, "Can I give you a ride home?"

"I drove my own car," Jessi said.

"Ok, then I'll walk you to your car," Raymond said and they started in that direction. As they were walking he said, "I had a good time with you, tonight. We have a bye next week and I don't have to play. Would you like to go to the movies then?"

"Another date," Jessi smiled. "I'd like that."

"Good," Raymond said. They reached her car, "Here's your car. I guess I'll say goodnight here." He took her in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss which she returned. Then he held the door for her as she got in and watched her drive away. "Definitely fire inside that geeky exterior," he said to himself.


	13. Kyle's Room

Kyle spent Friday night sitting in his tub. After dinner, once everyone had left for the dance, Kyle had gone into his room and worked at his computer. After a while, distracted and unable to concentrate, he paced and then, finally, climbed into his tub and sat fretting.

Nicole looked in his door and saw him. "Kyle is everything all right?"

Kyle said, "I'm in a gunk."

"What's a gunk?" Nicole asked.

"A guy funk," Kyle explained. "It's one of Lori's words. She says the new word is 'ennui'."

"That's at least a real word," Nicole said.

"I like gunk better." Kyle sighed. "This definitely feels like a gunk."

Nicole pulled a chair over next to his tub and sat down. "So, why are you in a gunk, Kyle? Is it Amanda?"

"That's part of it," Kyle admitted. "I miss her. I talk to her on the phone almost every day, and she seems happy. She's enjoying her music. But it's not the same as the last time she was gone. Last time she was eager to talk to me, she didn't want to hang up. Now, sometimes it seems like I am interrupting her. She's still Amanda, but ..."

"But she seems distant?" Nicole asked.

"You can't really tell distance over the phone," Kyle explained. "The four kilohertz bandwidth makes it sound the same no matter where you are."

"I mean not as close to you emotionally as she was," Nicole said.

"I think she _is_ becoming distant," Kyle agreed. "I keep telling myself that we will go back to normal at Christmas when she returns but I'm not sure we will. My life may be too strange for her to be with me. I've always been afraid of that."

Nicole patted him on the shoulder. "She did go there to focus on music. Maybe that's all it is."

"Maybe," Kyle glanced at Nicole and then looked away.

"You said that it was 'part of it'," Nicole observed. "Is there something happening at Latnok bothering you?"

"There's nothing unusual," Kyle looked at the wall in front of him for a moment and then said, "Jessi's at the dance."

"Are you worried about that?" Nicole asked. "Is there some reason to be concerned about the football player?"

"There's nothing that I know about." Kyle sat for a moment, "Nicole, you said that it was inappropriate for me to pursue a romantic relationship with Jessi while we lived under the same roof. I've tried to do what you asked."

"But you have feelings for her," Nicole nodded. "I understand. The two of you have so much in common, a connection closer than any I've ever encountered. You can actually share thoughts and memories. And Jessi has been obviously interested in you almost since she met you." She paused for a moment, "Having someone have strong feelings for you is something that it is hard to ignore. Most people either eventually return the feelings or reject them. It's hard to remain neutral. It has an effect on you."

"I've always wanted to be with Amanda," Kyle said. "I didn't realize that Jessi was interested in me that way until she told me. Now I can't help thinking about it." He sat for a moment, lost in his gunk.

"And Jessi's at the dance?" Nicole prompted.

"I'm afraid that she might want to be with him," Kyle reluctantly admitted. "I'm afraid of losing her."

"You two have a unique connection," Nicole assured him. "You had it even when you were dating Amanda and had no romantic feelings for Jessi. You were still very close. You risked everything to go and get her when she ran away. I can't imagine you losing that, I don't think it's even possible."

Kyle gave her a wan smile, "I've been trying to do what you asked me to do, Nicole. I've been trying to discourage her." He paused for a moment, and then continued, "I thought that if she were with Raymond I wouldn't have to keep pushing her away. But then I realized ..."

Nicole sighed, "You realized that you liked her being attracted to you. That let you be close to her without it being your responsibility."

"I do," Kyle said. "I'm sorry, Nicole, I'm so confused."

Nicole patted him on the shoulder, "Kyle, I think you may be getting ahead of yourself. This is just a single date. She may not even like him."

"I want Jessi to be happy," Kyle said. "I can't wish for her date to be unpleasant. She was looking forward to it."

"I hope it goes well, too," Nicole said. "I would like to see Jessi have more interaction with other people. She needs to broaden the base of her connections to the world. It will help her be more secure. It may be flattering for her to be focused on you, but it isn't good for her to connect with the world only through you." She squeezed his shoulder. "I wouldn't worry, it will be fine."

Kyle smiled at her, "Thank you, Nicole. It helps to talk about it. You have a good bedside manner, Dr. Trager."

Nicole laughed, "I think in this case, it's a tubside manner." She put the chair back and left the room.

_I sat in my tub wondering if Nicole was right. That I wanted to be close to Jessi but I didn't want to be responsible for the decision. How could I choose between Amanda and Jessi, 'butterflies' or 'electricity'? What bothered me most was the fact that I might not have any choices at all. Both girls seemed to be slipping away from me._


	14. The Woods

"Ouch," Declan said quietly as the branch hit him. It was early on Saturday morning and he was following Tom Foss through the trees and small brush leading to the hidden clearing that they used as a target range. "I think you take a different route each time just to make getting there more challenging"

'I don't want to make an obvious path. I don't like being predictable," Foss said.

"I know, I'm just complaining," Declan said. "Actually, I've been looking forward to this all week. Practicing using my gun saying 'bang, bang' gets old."

"Drills are important," Foss said. "You know that from basketball."

"I know, but that doesn't make them fun." Declan caught the next branch.

They got to their usual clearing and Declan set the small duffle down.

"As I told you, we are going to be practicing my variation of the 'El Presidente' drill today, this time with live ammo. The new thing you are going to have to work on is not flinching when the gun actually fires and using the recoil as part of your positioning. If you are firing a second shot at the same target you have to counteract it, if you are moving to a new target, you can let the momentum be part of your adjustment."

"And, I'll have to try to actually hit the target," Declan added.

"That's part of the exercise," Foss agreed. "Put a clip in your Glock and two or three of them in your left pocket. You know the drill. I'll put up the targets. Turn around. I want the first positioning to be a surprise."

Foss went from tree to tree, putting up five targets, making sure that bullets that missed the tree would go into the hill behind them. When he had finished, he went to the bag and got out a couple of pairs of ear muffs. He put on one pair and handed the other to Declan. When Declan had donned them, he said, "Go."

Declan turned, pulling the Glock from his pocket. He smoothly chambered the first round as he brought the gun up to the first target. He fired, let the barrel drop back down and fired again. He guided the barrel to the next target and repeated, at the end he ejected a clip while pulling the next from his pocket and loaded it, chambering a round and repeating. When he finished, he looked at Foss for comments.

"The drills really helped, that was much smoother," Foss said. "Now, let's see if you hit anything." He went over and examined the targets. When he came back he advised, "You only hit three of five targets, the first one twice. You are going to have to work on blending motion with being stable when actually squeezing the trigger. Put in another clip and let's do it again."

They repeated the drill several times, with Foss moving the targets from time to time. Finally, Foss called a halt to the process. "I think that's probably enough for now, you hit all five targets, two of them twice. I think you are either having trouble waiting for the barrel to come down or are already looking for the next target."

"I think I'm getting ready for the next target," Declan put the gun back in his pocket. "What now?"

Foss pointed at his pocket, "You just put your gun away with an empty clip. Put a fresh clip in."

"I thought we were done with the drill," Declan looked puzzled.

"Part of what we are practicing out here is the feeling of knowing you have a loaded gun in your pocket." Foss pointed to a fallen tree at one side of the clearing, "Let's sit down. There is something I want to talk to you about."

Declan put a fresh clip in his gun and followed Foss over to the tree. They sat and Foss told him about Brian Taylor being back on the scene and about his warning that Jessi might be in danger.

"Do you think someone will really try to kill Jessi?" Declan asked, troubled.

"I don't know," Foss shrugged. "I do know that Kyle and Jessi are looking into things involving powerful and dangerous people. The idea of targeting Jessi _would_ be a logical way of making them stop. Whether it's a real threat or if Grace Kingsley is using it to get Brian to try to stop them I don't know. Someone shot Adam Baylin while I was protecting him. I'm not letting that happen to Jessi. We have to take this seriously."

Declan's hand touched the pocket holding his gun, "So all this," he gestured to the shooting range and targets, "may turn out to be for real?"

"It always was," Foss said.

"So what do we do?" Declan asked. "How do we make sure that doesn't happen?"

"We keep watching them. Be alert for anything unusual. With the added threat you have to take anything unusual seriously," Foss said.

"That's great," Declan chuckled, "we have to watch Kyle and Jessi and look for anything unusual. When are they not doing something unusual?"

Foss grinned grimly at him and got up, "Let's go get packed up. I think we're done for the day here. As they approached the duffel bag, he suddenly commanded, "Now! Fire at the targets!"

Declan looked at him confused for a moment, then awkwardly pulled out his Glock and started shooting. He ran through the drill. When he was done, he shook his head, "You caught me of guard, there."

"If you have to do it for real," Foss admonished, "no one is go to say 'get ready, set, go'. It's just going to happen -- and people will die. Try not to be one of them."


	15. Trager Breakfast

Saturday morning found the Tragers around the breakfast table eating their traditional pancake and scrambled egg breakfast.

"So, how was your date last night, Jessi," Nicole asked.

"It was hard to dance at first, but then I watched the others and copied them," Jessi said. "I got better with practice."

"I had trouble learning to dance. Josh taught me," Kyle said.

"I wouldn't call what you do 'dancing', but you can certainly copy well," Josh observed.

"So how was Raymond? How did the two of you get along?" Nicole asked. "First dates can be really awkward sometimes."

"I think he likes me," Jessi smiled. Lori raised an eyebrow at this. Jessi continued, "He said I had 'amazing talents' after I fixed his arm."

"You fixed his arm?" Nicole asked with a concerned look.

Jessi explained, "He had some inflammation in his shoulder from being knocked down and straining to throw the football. I moved some of it out and increased the blood flow. That took away the pain and increased the rate of healing. It should be better today."

"Jessi, you have to be careful about doing things like that," Kyle cautioned. "What did he think you were doing?"

"I told him that it was a massage," Jessi said. "He said I was good at massage."

"So, do you think you will be going out with him again?" Nicole asked, glancing at Kyle out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes, he already asked me. We are going to the movies next week. They have a 'bye' week and the team isn't playing."

Kyle looked down at his pancakes and pushed a bite around with his fork. He frowned slightly.

Jessi looked at him, "Is something wrong, Kyle?"

"No," Kyle said. "I'm just trying to figure out if I have room for another bite of your pancakes." He looked at her and smiled. She frowned and looked puzzled.

_Jessi knew that I wasn't being honest. When I had first started living with the Tragers I found the subject of lies very confusing. People tell each other lies all the time, some of them serious violations of trust, others little 'white lies' that help people get along without unnecessarily hurting each other's feelings. I could not lie to Jessi, not even 'white lies' without her knowing._

Nicole watched this, and then turned to Josh, "You went out with Katie. How did that go?"

"Katie is nice and I like her, but she isn't Andy. She knows I feel that way and that's awkward," Josh shook his head. "I feel like I'm cheating on Andy but she keeps telling me to go out with Katie." He sighed, "The two of them talk with each other. I think they are plotting against me. Speaking of that, the three of us have arranged for a game of G-force this morning. It's really hard to schedule with school and the time difference. I have to go log on now." He got up and hurried for his room.

Stephen said to Jessi, "I've looked at those light industrial suites you sent me. They all look good to me. If you still want to rent one for your computer system, we should go out and look at them and see which one you like."

"Yes, our project is waiting until we can get the computer network. It would be good to have some workshop space for other projects too," Jessi said.

"We should probably ask Foss to look at it too," Kyle added. "I'll call him."

Jessi looked at Kyle and asked, hesitantly, "Are we going to the Latnok office today?"

"We're supposed to, I promised some people that I would help them today," Kyle said. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's different with Brian there," Jessi admitted. "It makes me feel awkward."

Nicole assured her, "Jessi, you don't have to be worried about Brian. He can't make you do anything you don't want to. That time is over. You live here."

"Thank you, Nicole." Jessi looked at Kyle and said, "If you want, I'll drive."

Kyle smiled at her, "I'd like that."

Jessi smiled in return and they got up and left the room together.

Nicole looked at Lori, "I saw that look you gave Jessi. Is there something we need to talk about?"

Lori shook her head, "No, I think it's just a 'sister' thing. If I need to call in the professional, I will."

"You know you can," Nicole reminder her.

"I do," Lori assured her. "Well, I have homework and a performance in two weeks so I better get busy." She went up to her room.

"Is there something wrong?" Stephen looked puzzled.

Nicole laughed. "Sometimes I envy you, sitting there eating your pancakes, oblivious to all the tensions and interactions."

"That's why I married a professional."


	16. Josh's Room

In his room, Josh's game of G-Force with Andy and Katie was coming to an end. Once again, the three of them had played well as a team and defeated their opponents.

"I think that's going to have to be it for me," Josh said. "I don't have time for another game. I'm scheduled to work this afternoon at the Rack."

Andy said, "Katie, Josh said he was taking you to the dance last night. Did he make a spectacle of himself as usual?"

"I think he took both of us," Katie said. "He is quite an enthusiastic dancer. He's hard to keep up with."

Josh objected, "I do not make a spectacle of myself, I just show people how it's done."

"I had a good time," Katie said. "Look, I'll get off and let the two of you talk. I can bring my homework down to the Rack and work on it this afternoon. I'll see you then Josh. Bye Andy." Katie signed off.

"I have time for a short video chat," Josh said. "Do you?"

"Sure," Andy agreed, and in a moment the two of them were looking at each other. "What did Katie mean when she said 'he took both of us'?"

Josh looked embarrassed, "Sometimes, when things get romantic, I hold back. She knows it's because of how I feel about you. She can tell when I'm thinking about you. It's all right to have fun but when it starts to go beyond that, I feel like I'm cheating on you."

"That's ridiculous," Andy objected. "I told you to take her out. I picked her especially for you. That's not cheating."

"It's not you, either," Josh said.

Andy smiled at him, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Nothing physical, that's for sure," Josh said in frustration. "So how _is_ Cleveland?"

"I'm not feeling the love yet," Andy's expression became somewhat down. "I'm new in the School and there aren't a lot of people who appreciate my style."

"You do have a style all your own," Josh said.

"Well it went over better in Seattle than in does in Cleveland," Andy sighed. "My mothers aren't finding it as welcoming to the two mothers concept either. They seem to be less evolved in Cleveland."

"So you should come back to Seattle," Josh suggested.

"Not a chance," Andy shook her head. "My mother has been waiting for a long time to run her own department and implement her own vision. This job gives her the chance to do that and she'll put up with anything to be able to do that. I'm stuck here for the next two years until college."

"Two years," Josh took in a breath and blew it out slowly, "That's a lot of G-Force."

"Don't give up on Katie," Andy encouraged.

"Don't give up on _me_ ," Josh protested. "I do have to go. Can we talk after dinner?"

Andy smiled, "Of course, it will be bedtime here. I'll probably be dressed for bed when you call." She disconnected leaving Josh smiling at the screen.


	17. UDub Latnok

The Latnok office seemed back to normal as Kyle wandered around talking to the students. Everyone was eager to talk to him and have him look at their projects and make suggestions. Jessi looked around but no one seemed to be interested in consulting her. She sighed and went to her usual workstation and started doing research.

After a few minutes, she looked up and saw Brian standing in front of her with a hesitant smile on his face, "It's good to be around you again, Jessi." He lowered his voice slightly, "I missed you, you are very important to me."

Jessi said defensively, "You just wanted me to help you get back into Latnok, you didn't care about me."

"I do care about you, Jessi," he objected. "I did make mistakes, though. I want to make a fresh start here. No pressure to do anything. I just want to be here for you"

"All right," Jessi said, hesitantly.

"So what are you working on?" Brian asked.

"It's a project that Kyle and I have been working on together," she answered guardedly. Brian nodded and looked over to where Kyle was talking to one of the students. Jessi noticed and said, "When we're here, Kyle usually spends his time helping the students with their projects. They all like to talk to him." She sighed, "No one seems to want my help."

Brian chuckled, "It's just like the old times. Everyone basked in Adam's attention. They all wanted to talk to him about their ideas. He was laid back, relaxed, comfortable to talk to. Your mother was so much more competitive and intense. I think everyone was a little bit afraid of Sarah."

"People didn't want Sarah's advice?" Jessi was obviously hungry for stories about her mother.

"They wanted her advice, but she wasn't as easy for them to talk to," Brian said.

Kyle had seen them talking and had excused himself from the student he was helping and came to stand protectively next to Jessi, putting his hand on her shoulder to add support.

Brian looked up to him, "Kyle, good, I was going to go and get you. I think the three of us should go for a walk. We can go over to 'Pockets' and get a cup of coffee."

"But there's coffee here," Kyle looked at the coffee pot.

Brian smiled, "Yes, but it's a nice day and it would be good to get out of the Latnok offices for a few minutes." He looked down and met Jessi's eyes, saying "Jessi and I were just talking about _Sarah_."

Jessi's look hardened and she stood up, "It would be good to get away for a few minutes and talk."

When they emerged from the building, Brian said, "I didn't want to talk about it down there, but I really want to hear what you two know about Sarah's disappearance."

"My mother didn't disappear," Jessi said heatedly, "Michael Cassidy killed her."

Brian's expression saddened, "So Sarah really is dead this time? What do you know?"

_We told Brian about how we had used Jessi's holographic memory to relive the night of the Prom. How she had stood in the hall and seen the blood in Cassidy's basket. How she had stood helpless, remembering the sound of Sarah's heart beat slowing to a halt. How Cassidy had admitted it, under Jessi's pressure in the Rack, giving various excuses and how he had used it as a threat against me at the Trager house the night I destroyed his growth fluid._

Brian had tears in his eyes at the end of the story. He pointed to a nearby bench, "I have to sit down for a moment." He sat on the end of the bench and put his head in his hands. After some hesitation, Jessi sat next to him and Kyle sat on the other end. After they had sat there for a moment, Jessi reached out and rested her hand on Brian's shoulder.

Finally, he sat up and wiped his eyes, saying, "I'm sorry. I was still hoping she had just gone away again."

Jessi, who had taken her hand away as he sat up looked at him fiercely, "How can we make him pay for killing her."

Brian shook his head slowly, "I don't know. Even if Latnok allowed you to, you don't have any evidence that you can take to the police do you?"

Kyle asked, "Would Latnok keep us from going to the police?"

"Latnok prefers to handle matters like this quietly," Brian said. "Have you told them about this?"

"Jessi accused him of it at the meeting when they put us on the board," Kyle said. "Grace said it was a matter for another time and arranged for him to move away. I don't think anything is being done about him, nothing was mentioned at our last meeting. Until then we hadn't had any connections to the board except through Grace. Obviously we couldn't talk to her about him."

"Grace has a lot of power on that board," Brian advised. "She's going to be using it to protect Michael Cassidy. It's going to be hard to get by that."

"Are we just going to let him get away with it?" Jessi asked, bitterly

Brian looked Jessi in the eye, "Sarah was very important to me. I promise you that I won't forget or forgive her death. Whatever you think of me, you can count on that."

"Thank you," Jessi said quietly.

"There's one other thing we need to talk about," Brian looked back at Kyle. "When Grace brought me back she told me that the two of you were looking into Latnok finances and that there were people who feared that you were going to dig up things they didn't want known. She told me that they were considering solving their problem by having Jessi 'disappear' and that with her gone you would spend your time looking for her instead. She wants me to talk you out of looking deeper. She figures that I will do whatever it takes to protect Jessi. And she's right about that. "

Kyle looked freighted and took Jessi's hand, "They're threatening to kill Jessi?"

"Grace said so, that doesn't mean it's true, she could just be making up an imaginary threat to get me to do what she wants," Brian shrugged. "I can't take that risk, though."

"I can't take that risk either," Kyle said. "We have to stop looking."

"No," Jessi objected. "We decided that we needed to make Latnok back into the vision that Adam and Sarah had. We can't let them go back to threatening us."

"We have to tell Foss," Kyle said.

"I already have," Brian said. "But you should talk to him too. If you are going to keep looking you will have to take extra precautions."

_I didn't know what to think about Brian Taylor and his warnings. Adam had said that Brian had been acting in his own interest for years. Adam didn't trust him. He had also pushed Jessi too hard and risked killing her. But his grief over Sarah's death was real and strong and he genuinely wanted to protect Jessi. I wanted to believe him, to think that we had an ally to help protect Jessi against this new threat, if there really was a new threat. That was the problem. What Brian Taylor was doing was exactly what the people hiding things at Latnok wanted him to do, discourage us from looking. I felt he was telling the truth about Grace, but I wasn't sure. His emotions were strong and confused. He was also guilty about something. The only thing I was sure of is that we had to be careful._


	18. Jessie's Room

Lori stopped at Jessi's open door and knocked on the doorframe. Jessi turned from her computer and said, "What do you want?"

Lori prompted, "Come in?"

"Come in," Jessi responded.

"Thank you," Lori answered. She went in and sat down. She took a breath, "At breakfast, this morning, you said that you thought Raymond liked you."

Jessi looked uncertain, "He seemed to like me. He kissed me several times and asked me on another date. Doesn't that mean he likes me?"

Lori laughed. "It looked like a lot more than 'liking' you. The two of you looked like you were about to make love right on the dance floor."

Jessi looked surprised, "We looked like we were about to have sex? But we had our clothes on. And you don't have sex on a dance floor."

Lori smiled, "That's usually true. But you were dancing very closely. He had his hands all over your butt and you had your hands on his. You were kissing quite passionately for a couple on a first date. You looked like two people who were about to have sex."

"I don't want to have sex with him," Jessi frowned. "Was that the wrong way to dance? I was trying to see how people were dancing so that I could learn to dance. I thought I should do what Raymond was doing."

Lori sighed, "So you were just trying to copy Raymond? How do _you_ really feel about him? Do you like him?"

"He seemed nice," Jessi said. "I liked him paying attention to me and holding me while we danced." She looked wistful, "Everyone ignores me, except Kyle -- and he doesn't want to hold me. Nicole told him not to." She frowned, "I didn't like it when he 'had his hands all over my butt' or when he used his tongue when he was kissing me, but I wanted to do the right thing, so I did it back to him. Was that wrong?"

"Oh boy," Lori sighed. "Let me give you some big sister advice..."

Jessi looked puzzled, "Are you my big sister?"

"Apparently, at the moment I am," Lori said. "When you go out with boys, they usually try to be intimate with you a lot faster than you want to be intimate with them. A girl has to discourage her date from becoming more physical than she wants him to be. The boy will keep trying to push the boundaries. You have to say no until _you_ want to be closer."

"Isn't it wrong for boys to try to be more physical than you want them to be?"

"Yes, I suppose it is," Lori admitted. "That's the way the dating game is played, though, "Boys try to get all they can and girls say no."

"Kyle doesn't try to get 'all he can'," Jessi said, and then added wistfully, "I wouldn't say 'no' to him."

"Kyle is pure and innocent," Lori smiled. "You can't judge all boys by Kyle, and not just because of his special abilities."

"Does it make you angry when boys try to be physical with you before you want them to be?" Jessi asked.

"Not if they take a 'no' with good humor. It feels nice to be wanted," Lori said. "It's only if they persist that it can make me angry."

"So, I should tell Raymond 'no' when he tries to be more intimate than I want him to be?" Jessi asked.

"Of course you should," Lori said. "You don't have to make a big scene. When he put his hand on your butt, you should have reached down and moved it up, then smiled at him to let him know that you were being friendly but not _that_ friendly."

Jessi frowned, "Dating is a complicated game."

"Yes, I guess it is," Lori agreed. "It takes years to learn. You are jumping into it in the middle." She smiled at Jessi, "But you're really smart, and you have a big sister to look out for you."

"Aren't we about the same age?" Jessi asked. "Why are you the big sister?"

"We are, but when it comes to dating, I'm the big sister," Lori said. "When it comes to my homework, you can be _my_ big sister, as long as you don't make me do push-ups."


	19. Madacorp

Kyle and Jessi walked together through the doors into the glass atrium of Madacorp. The scene was familiar with the large screen promoting Madacorp announcing "Technology, Science, Art, only one company integrates all three for the benefit of mankind, Madacorp, building foundations for tomorrow."

_The last time I had come through those doors was the day of the open house when I came to bargain with Julian Ballantine to get him to put me in the CIR chair. I had wanted to sabotage their mainframe and get them to stop pursuing my family. My plan had run into difficulties when I had discovered that Jessi was still alive and suffering from trying to contain the knowledge of Zzyzx in her head. We had both been lucky to get away alive that time. But I had accomplished my mission and come away with an unexpected bonus who was walking beside me today. This was a much better day._

As they approached the reception desk, a tall woman with straight blonde hair intercepted them, "Mr. Trager, Ms. Taylor, I'm Tiffany. Ms. Hollander asked me to bring you straight to her office.

She led them through the metal detectors, up an elevator and eventually to a wooden door with inset glass windows in a rectangular pattern. They went past that to a similar inner door where she knocked and announced, "Mr. Trager and Ms. Taylor. She gestured for them to go in and Emily Hollander rose from behind the desk and came to meet them. She was dressed in more formal business attire than on the previous times they had met.

"Jessi, Kyle, it's good to see you again." She shook their hands and indicated the two chairs in front of her desk. "Have a seat. Can I have Tiffany get you anything?"

"No thank you," Kyle said. Jessi shook her head. Emily looked at Tiffany who nodded and closed the door.

She went behind her desk and sat, "I'm glad to see that the two of you are doing well." She paused and began uncomfortably, "I want to start with an apology. Kyle, I know that you associate me with unpleasant activities toward your family. Jessi, I deeply regret what I put you through. I started out thinking I was doing the right thing, and wound up simply trying to protect my daughter. I did things that I'm not proud of and I'm sorry."

Jessi said, "Paige is a nice girl. How is she?"

"She's fine, thank you," Emily smiled. "And glad to have her mother home to read bedtime stories to her -- unless I'm working late." She took a breath and continued, "I was very surprised to get Mike Kasperson's call indicating that he wanted the two of you to audit Madacorp's activities. He made it clear that he expected my complete cooperation with you and that he would use your report to determine whether or not to confirm my position here." She smiled and shook her head wonderingly, "If I didn't know your history, I would think he was crazy sending a couple of teenagers to audit this corporation." She opened her hands indicating the size of Madacorp. "But I have an idea of the kinds of things you can do and I am looking forward to seeing what you can discover."

"Mike Kasperson promised us that we would have complete access," Kyle said.

"Mike Kaperson is a powerful member of my board and is the one who ended the nightmare I was living through by removing Julian Ballantine and putting me in this position." Emily said, "Whatever Mike Kasperson asks for, he will get, and that means whatever you ask for you will get." She picked up two Madacorp badges with the word 'UNRESTRICTED' on them in red letters. They contained Kyle and Jessi's names and pictures. She handed them out, "After we are done here, with your permission of course, Tiffany will take you to get your retinal scans on file. With that and these, you will be able to get into any room in this facility day or night whenever you want to. Will that be acceptable?"

Kyle smiled, "Yes that will. It will be a lot easier to move around than the first time I was investigating Madacorp. I had to work around your security system for that."

Emily chuckled, "Yes, I remember that day. You had us all running in circles." She picked up a data disk. "This is the full annual report as well as all of our SEC filings, and the internal annual reports from all departments. I thought you would like to have it." She pushed it across the desk to them.

"We've read all of that, except the internal annual reports," Kyle picked it up. "They aren't public so we didn't have access to them. This is all just summary data. They say 'the devil is in the details'. We would like the detailed accounting transactions for the last year. We want to see if there is a devil hiding there."

Emily stared for a moment, then she recovered, "But that's millions of transactions. You can't possibly ..." She raised her eyebrows, "Maybe you can. That may take me a couple of days to get pulled together. Will that be acceptable?"

"It will," Kyle agreed, "That's a lot of data, even for us. We may just follow specific areas. We want to have it all, though."

"I'll have a courier deliver it to your house," Emily assured him. "Is there anything else you would like?"

Jessi said, "Your drug division has a new anti-depressant which is about to go into clinical trials. The information I saw on it gave me concerns about side effects the researchers may not have been aware of. I would like to see more internal data on that."

Emily blinked, "All right. I'll get that for you too. If you find something wrong with it before we spend several million dollars testing it that will be a real savings. Of course that will mean our investment is lost."

"Not, necessarily," Jessi said. "From what I could see, a slightly different formulation would be pharmacologically equivalent without the hepatic impact of the current one."

"All right," Emily said, slowly, "Is there anything _else_ I can do?"

"I think that will do for now," Kyle said.

Emily nodded thoughtfully. "Then, I'll have Tiffani take you for the retinal scan and start getting the information you asked for." She stood up and handed them a couple of business cards, "My cell number is on here, you can reach me twenty four seven". She shook their hands again and opened the door, saying, "My door is open to you any time." She looked out and said, "Tiffany, will you take Mr. Trager and Ms. Taylor to get the retinal scan we arranged?" She watched them leave, then closed the door, went back to her desk, sat down and breathed a large sigh of relief. She said to herself, "I think I'd prefer the I.R.S."


	20. Jessie and Raymond

Raymond and Jessi came out of the movie. Jessi said, "The hero of the movie killed his girlfriend when she found out who he was. I didn't like him."

"You aren't really supposed to like him," Raymond explained. "Sometimes a movie can be about people who do desperate things. He was, after all, a professional killer. He could kill without remorse."

"If he killed without remorse, then he wasn't human anymore," Jessi said with certainty. "Remorse is what lets you remain human after you've killed people."

Raymond looked at Jessi in surprise, "You know, I really haven't had a chance to get to know you. We've never talked about much. I wish there were some place quiet that we could go and just sit and talk."

Jessi suggested, "We could go to my apartment."

"Your apartment?" Raymond asked. "I thought you lived with the Tragers."

"I have an apartment where I used to live with my mother," Jessi said, "but something ... happened to her. I still keep the apartment. No one lives there now."

"Really," Raymond said with growing enthusiasm, "Let's go there."

When they arrived at Jessi's apartment, she let him in saying, "There really isn't much to eat or drink here. There are some soft drinks in the refrigerator."

"That would be fine," Raymond said, looking around. "This couch looks comfortable, why don't we sit here."

"I'll get the drinks," Jessi went into the kitchen and returned in a moment carrying two sodas. She set the drinks on the coffee table and sat down next to Raymond who put his arm around her.

She smiled and leaned against him, "What do you want to talk about?"

"How about this?" He leaned over and kissed her.

After a moment she pulled away puzzled, "I thought you wanted to talk."

"I did, but kissing you is more fun," he smiled. He kissed her again, reaching out and stroking her cheek with his free hand.

She reached up and rested her hand on his cheek in response. As he kissed her, he slid his hand down her cheek and neck, across her shoulder and down to her chest. She squirmed slightly, reached down and guided his hand back to her cheek. He intensified his kissing and slid his hand back down until it was on her chest again.

She reached down and pulled his hand away, breaking the kiss. She frowned, "I don't want to be that intimate. We came here to talk."

"You didn't bring me here to talk," Raymond disagreed, "you wanted to make out, stop being so coy." He kissed her again, pressing his hand onto her chest.

Jessi pulled away once more, "No, I didn't. You said you wanted to talk in some place quiet. This is quiet."

"Don't be such a tease," he said. "I know you want to, you know you want to. You've been coming on to me since the beginning. Don't pull back now." He shifted his weight onto her, putting his hand back on her chest and forcing his mouth over hers.

The coffee table shattered breaking his fall the glasses spraying soda as they flew. He was stunned for a moment and then got up, rage filling his face. Jessi stood up as well.

"You bitch, you can't do that to me," he swung his fist at her. She blocked it easily with her left hand and grabbed him by the throat with her right, raising him off the ground. He hung there choking. The look of anger on her face was replaced by horror. She released him and he collapsed into the wreckage of the table, coughing and rubbing his throat.

"I'm sorry," Jessi reached to help him up.

He scrambled backward, crab style, and got to his feet on his own. He said his voice hoarse, "I don't know what kind of game you are playing but you're sick."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Jessi pleaded.

"The hell you didn't," Raymond said. "You could have killed me. You stay the hell away from me." He coughed a couple of times and then went out the door slamming it behind him.

Jessi sat back down, tears running down her face.


	21. Lori's Room

Lori was in her usual position, sitting on her bed, guitar in hand notebook in front of her when she noticed Jessi standing hesitantly in the doorway. She said, "You can come in, Jessi," then looked at her and saw the red eyes and troubled expression. She set her guitar down, "Jessi, What happened?"

Jessi stood hesitantly in the middle of her room and said, "I almost killed Raymond."

"What!" Lori exclaimed. "What did you do?"

"I grabbed him by the throat."

"Is he hurt," Lori asked.

"I think he's just bruised," Jessi said. "I stopped before I did serious damage."

Lori took a breath, "Sit down and tell me about it. Where did this happen?"

Jessi sat down in the chair, "I took him to my apartment."

Lori frowned, "Why did you do that?"

"He said he wished we had a quiet place to talk," Jessi explained. "I suggested my apartment and he thought it was a good idea."

Lori rolled her eyes and sighed, "Oh, Jessi." She said, "Start from the beginning and tell me the whole story."

Jessi described how the date had gone, ending with Raymond cursing at her and slamming the door. She said, her eyes glistening with tears, "I think he's right. I am sick."

Lori stood up, "No you're not." She took a deep breath, then reached out and took Jessi's hand, "Come with me, we have to go talk to Nicole."

"I don't want to tell Nicole," Jessi held back. "I don't want her to hate me."

"She won't hate you," Lori assured her. "It'll be all right, but we need her help. Trust your big sister."

Jessi reluctantly let Lori lead her down the stairs.

Nicole was sitting in a chair in the living room reading a journal when she saw them approach. Her brow furrowed as she took in the scene and Jessi's expression. "What the matter?" She asked.

"Remember when you said that I could 'call in the professional'?" Lori asked. "Well it's definitely time for that."

Nicole looked at them, assessing the situation. She said, "Let's go to Jessi's room. We can talk privately there, and I'm used to having this type of conversation in that room, anyway."

When they got to her room, Jessi sat on her bed and Nicole sat in the chair at her desk. After a moment's hesitation, Lori sat next to Jessi and put her arm around her and gave her a gentle hug. She said, "It will be all right, Jessi."

Nicole glanced at Lori and gave her an approving smile then she turned to Jessi, "What happened? Did something go wrong on your date?"

"I grabbed Raymond by the throat, I almost killed him," Jessi said in despair.

Nicole looked shocked. She glanced at Lori who held up her free hand in a 'go easy' gesture. She took a deep breath, "Let's start at the beginning."

Jessi explained, "After the movie Raymond said he wished we had a quiet place to talk. I suggested my apartment, so we went there."

Nicole nodded encouragingly. She could see where this was going.

"When we got there, instead of talking he started kissing me. It was nice until he put his hand on my chest. I did what Lori told me and moved it away," Jessi looked at Lori.

Nicole looked at her as well. Lori turned over her free hand, "At the dance Jessi and Raymond were dancing very intimately. We talked about it and I found out she was just copying him; she didn't want to be that physical. I told her that she didn't have to do things just because he wanted to."

"You don't, Jessi." Nicole assured her. "When it comes to physical contact, you don't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

"Lori told me that that was how 'the dating game' was played. She said that boys would try to be intimate and that girls would stop them if they didn't want them to."

"That's how it often works," Nicole agreed.

"He kissed me harder and put his hand on my chest again," I stopped him and told him I didn't want to," Jessi said.

"What happened then?" Nicole asked.

"He said, 'Don't be such a tease. I know you want to, you know you want to. You've been coming on to me since the beginning. Don't pull back now,' then he climbed on top of me, kissed me hard and grabbed my chest. I pushed him hard and he fell on the floor." Jessi was starting to tear up. "When he got up he tried to hit me. I stopped him and grabbed him by the throat, just like I did the man in the woods." She closed her eyes for a moment remembering, "But I stopped myself and let him go. He cursed at me and left." She hung her head, "I _am_ crazy. I shouldn't be here with your family."

"This is _your_ family, Jessi," Nicole insisted. "Of course you should be here." She collected her thoughts, "Do you think he's injured?"

"No, I stopped before I did any damage," Jessi said. She thought for a moment, "His throat will probably be bruised, though. He may be hoarse for a day or two."

Nicole took a deep breath and let it out slowly in relief, "The first thing I am going to tell you is that you had every right to defend yourself. He had no right to try to force his affections on you."

Jessi straightened slightly at this.

"The second thing is that you do have to learn to use only as much force as is necessary. You have much more strength than the average person; you need to control it better. This situation did not justify deadly force," Nicole cautioned.

Jessi nodded.

"And finally, while you did nothing bad or evil, you did make mistakes. By being intimate with him at the dance and then inviting him to your apartment, he thought that you wanted to be even more intimate. That is no excuse for him using force but it does explain why he felt angry. You weren't 'playing the game' properly and he misunderstood."

"I don't know how to play the game," Jessi shook her head, sadly. "Kyle doesn't act like that."

"Not many boys act like Kyle," Nicole agreed. "I'm sorry I didn't see this coming. You and Kyle are so intelligent and capable that I forget that you don't have the experience you need in complex social environments, like dating. It didn't bother Kyle because if the boy doesn't push, there is no problem, especially since he was dating Amanda. You have a more difficult part to play." She looked to Lori, "You know the people involved. What do you think the results of this will be?" She asked.

"Raymond probably won't date her again," Lori said.

"I don't want to date him again."

"Right, so there's no problem there," Lori agreed. "I doubt Raymond is going to go around the school telling people that a girl beat him up. He'll probably spread stories about her being a 'tease', but that will only be with his buddies, and I don't think Jessi would want to date them either." She nodded reassuringly, "It will be ok."

"See, it will be all right, Jessi," Nicole said. "But we'll need to talk about dating in detail more before you go out again. I should have realized that in the first place, I'm terribly sorry."

Jessi said miserably. "No one is going to ask me out again."

"I'm sure they will," Nicole reassured her.


	22. Jessi's Room

Jessie was lying in bed, trying to get to sleep when Kyle came quietly into the room. She turned her face into the pillow to hide her tears.

Kyle sat on the side of her bed and put his hand on her shoulder, "Jessi, I'm so sorry."

"Did Nicole tell you?"

"Lori did," Kyle said. "I'm sorry I wasn't home when you needed me. I spent the evening at Latnok."

"I still have nightmares about the man in the woods," Jessi said. "I almost killed another person."

Kyle stroked her face, "You didn't do it. You stopped yourself. It's all right."

She looked up at him and smiled a little, "I feel better when you touch me. That makes everything all right."

He sat with her for a moment, stroking her hair, then went around the bed and climbed into it stretching out next to her back, holding her like they had done the night when he had told her about finding Sarah's ring. It had been her 'safest and happiest' memory. He could feel her relax and some of the anguish leave her.

They lay together for some time without speaking, finally, Jessi said, in a quiet voice, "Thank you, Kyle. I think I can sleep now."

Kyle offered, "I can stay longer."

Jessi said reluctantly, "You don't have to. I don't want you to get in trouble."

_I had spent the night at Latnok to avoid thinking about Jessi being on another date with Raymond, feeling her slipping away from me. It felt wrong to be glad that she was not going to be dating him anymore, but I was. Jessi was so sad though, I wanted to take the pain away and help her feel better. By holding her I had been able to do that. When she thanked me and told me I could go, I realized that holding her was making me feel better as well and that I didn't want to go._

Kyle lay motionless for a while longer and then said, "Jessi, I don't want to go. Will you let me stay?"

Jessi said, "Of course I will. You can stay as long as you want." She pressed back against him. They drifted off to sleep.


	23. Trager Morning

The morning sun was coming through the window when Nicole knocked on Jessi's door, saying, "Jessi it's time to get up. The crew is going to be demanding pancakes." She opened the door and froze when she saw Kyle and Jessi waking up, looking at her in surprise. "Oh, excuse me," she mumbled embarrassedly, and closed the door. She stood there for a moment, took a deep breath, and then said through the door, "I'll be in the kitchen."

She went into the kitchen and picked up her tea, drinking it while she stood looking out the window. She waited.

In a moment, Kyle came into the kitchen, followed by Jessi. Kyle looked apologetic, Jessi determined. Kyle said, "Nicole, I'm sorry ..."

Nicole held up her hand to stop him. "Both of you get some juice and sit down first. Then we can talk about this calmly."

Jessi looked like she was about to argue, but got two glasses and set them at the table. Kyle got out the orange juice and filled them. They sat down, Nicole sat across from them. She took a sip from her tea and looked at them.

Kyle said, "Nicole, we didn't ... nothing happened."

Nicole nodded, "I know, I could see you were still dressed."

Jessi asked, "Do you think Brian would let me live with him?"

"Do you want to live with Brian?" Nicole asked, surprised.

"No, I like living here. I like making pancakes for the family and going places with Lori and being near Kyle." She continued quietly, "I like knowing you are here for me."

"Then this is your home," Nicole told her. "This is your family, it's where you belong."

Jessi looked at Kyle and said "But you said that ..."

Nicole raised her hand. "I said that I thought it was inappropriate for you to pursue a romantic relationship while living together under the same roof." She paused and took a sip of her tea. "That was my reaction when I was surprised by seeing the two of you kissing. We've all had time to talk about this and think about it. I would like to say that I was surprised this morning to see you together, but I wasn't really. Obviously the two of you are struggling with strong and complex feelings for one another. For me to try to deny them would be foolish. Clearly it would be _awkward_ for you to pursue a romantic relationship while living under the same roof, but it's not like we haven't faced awkwardness and confusion before and survived it."

Jessi frowned, "Are you saying that it's all right with you?"

"I'm saying that whatever develops between the two of you is your own business. I can't stop it, I may be doing more damage than good trying," Nicole admitted. "I may not think it's the best idea, but all I can do is give you my advice and help you when you ask -- and sometime when you don't. That advice is that if you do pursue this then take it slowly. I would also ask you to be discreet and not make things uncomfortable around the house for Lori and Josh, not to mention Stephen and me."

Kyle looked at Nicole questioningly and she gave him a small nod. He turned to Jessi and said, "Jessi, would you like to go to the dance with me next Friday?"

Jessi's mood brightened, "Are you asking me on a date?"

"Of course," Kyle said. "Do you want to go with me?"

"Yes," Jessi said, her eyes glistening, she leaned forward to kiss him then, catching Nicole's eye converted it to a hug.

They held each other for a moment until Nicole interrupted, "Now, we need to get breakfast started. We have hungry family to feed.


	24. Grace and Cassidy

Grace Kingsley looked up from the elegantly set table to the large prints of rustic scenes of southern France hanging between the white columns separating the dining area from the elegant bar. She turned back to Michael Cassidy, "This was a good place to meet."

Cassidy said, "You seemed to like it last time. I thought it would be simplest to just come here again. You didn't give me a lot of warning about your visit."

"Things are changing and I wanted to bring you up to date," Grace said. "I've brought Brian Taylor in to manage the University of Washington student group. That means I'm no longer involved with Kyle and Jessi on a day to day basis."

"You said that you were concerned about them getting information from you if you stayed longer," Cassidy nodded. "Has something happened?"

"Well things progressed faster than I expected them to," Grace said. "The two of them showed up at the Latnok board meeting having read _all_ of the material, we are talking about thousands of pages here, and a lot more material out of the public domain. They are on the track of some operations that some of us wish would stay hidden."

"They are finding some of your more 'interesting' activities?" Cassidy asked.

"Not yet, but they will. It's some of the activities of other members that are likely to generate more problems." Grace leaned forward, "They are talking about making Jessi 'disappear'. They figure that would occupy Kyle's attention looking for her. Two birds with one stone."

"That would probably work. I have to tell you I certainly wouldn't mind having her out of the picture," Cassidy nodded. "You should encourage them."

Grace frowned, "You are too bloodthirsty, it's better to be more subtle."

"Let's see how subtle you are when she's tearing _you_ inside out with her mind," Cassidy challenged.

"I don't intend to give her an incentive," Grace assured him. "I'm slowly starting to sell off or close some of my operations just in case. When I pulled Brian Taylor into the picture I warned him that Jessi was at risk and suggested that he try to keep them from pursuing their investigations."

"I didn't know you trusted Brian Taylor. Is that wise?" Cassidy asked.

Grace shrugged, "I don't have to trust him to do what _I_ want. I just have to trust him to do what _he_ wants. He is going to want to protect Jessi. Either he will succeed or he won't. At the very least he may provide some distraction, and distractions give us time."

"What about _our_ project," Cassidy frowned. "You don't want to close that down too, do you?"

"Of course not. We are going forward. You haven't used any funds from the Latnok office for it?" Grace gave him a sharp look.

"Not a penny," Cassidy assured her. "You were clear on that. I've just used the funds you gave me. It does limit our initial volume severely. It's essentially a pilot program."

"I want to keep it small," Grace confirmed. "That will make it easier to keep hidden. I deliberately got the money from 'clean' sources. I don't want any trails to lead to this. So, where are we?"

"The samples that you gave me had plenty of good cells to work with," Cassidy reported. "We have made several successful clones and are tracking the zygotes as they develop. We expect to have blastocysts in a couple more days. After that we will separate the embroyblasts from the trophoblasts. We are going to grow them in small samples of the solution for a couple of weeks and then select the best candidates for insertion into the pods. It will probably take no more than a month in all. Then we wait."

"You were able to successfully reconstitute the growth solution?"

"It took some work, but yes," Cassidy said. "I had help from a guy I have back at UDub. He was able to retrieve most of the formula from computer records. This is the digital age, once something gets into the system, you can never make it go away completely. There are email caches, temporary files, dozens of places. He was able to pull it together."

"Do you trust him?" Grace frowned.

"Not really," Cassidy said. "He's a loose cannon, but I have leverage on him. He's feeding me information."

"That could be a weak point," Grace pointed out. "You have to keep him under control. If necessary, _he_ can disappear."

"Now who's being bloodthirsty?" Cassidy asked.

"Whether you like it or not, Jessi is a valuable asset," Grace said. "If she can be diverted from ruining us, she'll make us all a lot of money."

"Well, I still have nightmares," Cassidy said. "I don't want her showing up here. I spent a lot of time on the project back at UDub and they destroyed it. I will not allow them to do it again without a fight."


End file.
